Manafort is scheduled to be sentenced next month for convictions in two federal cases brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He faces up to 25 years in prison for tax and bank fraud and additional time for conspiracy counts crimes in a related case. It could effectively be a life sentence for Manafort, who turns 70 in April.
The president has broad power to issue pardons for federal crimes, but no such authority in state cases. And while there has been no clear indication that Trump intends to pardon Manafort, the president has spoken repeatedly of his pardon power and defended his former campaign manager on a number of occasions, calling him a “brave man.”
The office of District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. first began investigating Manafort in 2017 in connection with loans he received from two banks. Those loans were also the subject of some of the counts in the federal indictment that led to his conviction last year. But the state prosecutors deferred their inquiry in order not to interfere with Mueller’s case.
They resumed their investigation in recent months, and a state grand jury began hearing evidence in the case, several people with knowledge of the matter said. The panel is expected to wrap up its work in the coming weeks, several of the people said, and prosecutors likely will ask the grand jurors to vote on charges shortly thereafter.
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Vance’s office is expected to seek charges whether or not the president pardons Manafort. The plan was first reported by Bloomberg News.
Any charges brought by Vance’s office would likely be challenged on double jeopardy grounds. New York state law includes stronger protections than those provided by the U.S. Constitution, and Manafort’s defense team is likely to challenge state charges. But prosecutors in Vance’s office have expressed confidence that they would prevail, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Jason Maloni, a spokesman for Manafort, said his legal team had no comment.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.