New York prosecutors missed the chance to argue one more appeal and prosecute the charges against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort after he was pardoned in a related federal case during Trump’s last few weeks in office.
State judges ruled in October that charges by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance violated state laws relating to double penalties. Vance’s office appealed, but the New York State Court of Appeals last week refused to review the lower court’s decision.
The order, provided by Manafort’s lawyer to NBC News on Monday and signed last Thursday by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, comes weeks after then President Donald Trump forgave his longtime ally.
A spokesman for Vance’s office declined to comment.
Manafort was charged in New York in connection with a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme in 2019, according to court documents. The 69-year-old former Republican Party agent is accused of falsifying business records to illegally obtain millions of dollars as part of the one-year mortgage scam.
Manafort was also sentenced to 47 months in 2019 for federal fraud and tax burdens in 2019 in a case brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. In December, Trump forgave Manafort of his federal prosecution, one of more than 100 acts of clemency that Trump conceded before leaving office.
“As we said from the moment the public prosecutor announced the charges against Mr. Manafort, this is a case that should never have been opened because the rejected charge is a clear violation of New York law,” said Manafort’s lawyer , Todd Blanche, in a statement. “As the court of first instance held, and the Appellate Division said, the People’s arguments’ are far from triggering an exception to the double risk that would justify this charge.”
He added: “We are pleased that the New York Court of Appeals saw no reason to give the District Attorney permission to appeal the previous well-founded decision that rejected the indictment and the Appellate Division’s opinion stating the same.”
Manafort would face an eight to 25-year sentence if convicted in the state case.
