Paul Manafort, the embattled political consultant and former Donald Trump campaign chairman at the center of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling, now has a legal defense fund created by his friends.
According to a press release issued Wednesday, manafortdefense.org was “created by longtime friends” and “established to support the Manafort family as they battle false allegations, government leaks and smear campaigns related to the proceedings brought against him by the Office of Special Counsel [the Mueller probe].”
Mr. Mueller has charged Mr. Manafort with multiple crimes including acting as an unregistered foreign agent, money-laundering and making false statements related to information he shared with the Justice Department about his Ukrainian political work.
The defense fund is “urging anyone who values civil liberties and wishes to show the ’Deep State’ that they cannot exert their will on ordinary citizens, to join them in supporting the Manafort family as they grapple against the Special Counsel to clear their name.”
It also notes that Mr. Mueller “previously seized Manafort’s assets, effectively crippling his 6th amendment rights and leaving him and his family struggling to pay legal bills.”
In February when Mr. Mueller’s sprawling federal indictment against Mr. Manafort was unsealed, it alleged that he and his deputy Rick Gates ran an elaborate scheme to launder $30 million out of a total of $75 million they had been paid, to avoid taxes. Mr. Manafort was alleged to have laundered more than $18 million to spend lavishly on property and goods in the United States.
Mr. Manafort made much of the money lobbying for Ukraine, work he never disclosed to the U.S. government, the inducement claimed.
In the Mueller probe last year, former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying about conversations he had in 2016 with Russian officials and agreed to cooperate with the special counsel’s team.
Citing “enormous” bills, Mr. Flynn’s family also created a legal defense fund.
• Dan Boylan can be reached at dboylan@washingtontimes.com.
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