Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz said on Wednesday that President Trump’s language toward Paul Manafort throughout his former campaign chairman’s criminal trial in Virginia suggests that he could be considering pardoning him.
“The language that the president has used in relation to Manafort is very different than what he’s used in relation to [Michael] Cohen,” Dershowitz told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on “Rising,” referring to the president’s former personal attorney.
“He talks about it being a tragedy, that he’s a good person, that he’s served many people in many administrations. It sounds like it’s certainly possible that he may be considering a pardon,” he continued.
Dershowitz, a columnist for the Hill who has said he’s a liberal Democrat and voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, has frequently defended Trump for amid Mueller’s probe on cable news outlets.
Manafort on Tuesday was found guilty of eight of 18 federal charges related to bank and tax fraud. Judge T.S. Ellis III declared a mistrial on the remaining 10 counts.
The conviction was a victory for special counsel Robert Mueller. However, the charges against Manafort were not directly related to the 2016 presidential campaign.
Manafort is set to face a second federal criminal trial in Washington, D.C., next month on charges such as money laundering, conspiracy, failing to register as a foreign lobbyist, and making false statements and misleading federal agents.
Trump has frequently attacked Mueller’s probe over the course of Manafort’s trial, referring to the investigation as a “witch hunt.”
The president has also appeared sympathetic to Manafort, saying he was being treated worse than mobster Al Capone.
However, Trump has lashed out against Cohen, who on Tuesday pleaded guilty to eight charges of bank fraud, tax fraud and campaign finance law violations.
Trump early Wednesday accused Cohen of lying to “get a ‘deal’ “ in his case, and tweeted that he would not recommend seeking legal services from Cohen.
If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2018
— Julia Manchester
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