Blumenthal Re-Releases 2019 Statement on Pardoning Paul Manafort

[WASHINGTON, DC] – After President Trump his pardoned former Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, re-released the following statement, which he first issued on March 13, 2019 after Manafort was sentenced to a total of seven and a half years for federal conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and fraud charges. Blumenthal said today, “This statement is as true and pertinent today as it was almost two years ago.”

“Pardoning Paul Manafort would send a message that you can break the law, defy the justice system, and be rewarded by the President of the United States. The president's pardon power is very broad but he can't misuse his power for corrupt purposes. Pardoning Paul Manafort would be an indication of approval of lying to prosecutors and condoning his deception to the American people,” Blumenthal said in 2019.

“There can be no explanation for a pardon other than the president rewarding Paul Manafort for his defying a legitimate and important effort to get at the truth and to impose justice.”

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