Trump declares he has 'such respect' for Paul Manafort, a 'brave man'
The traditional reward for acts of unimaginable bravery is a Purple Heart — but apparently eight felony convictions works in a pinch.
President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted on eight counts of felony financial crimes Tuesday. The president has consistently defended Manafort both in person and on Twitter. He added to his online flattery of the convicted felon Wednesday morning, declaring that he feels "very badly" for Manafort and lauding Manafort for not taking a plea deal, unlike someone else he knows. He concluded: "Such respect for a brave man!"
Manafort actually faced 18 counts of financial crimes, but the Virginia jury hearing his case was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the other 10. It's unclear how much more "respect" the president would have for someone convicted of 18 crimes rather than a measly eight.
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Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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