Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah laugh at Paul Manafort's self-incriminating PDF fail

Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah laugh at Paul Manafort's PDF fail
(Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/The Late Show, The Daily Show)

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort inadvertently revealed in a court filing unsealed Tuesday that in 2016, he'd sent internal polling data to a business associate tied to Russian intelligence, "providing the clearest evidence to date that the Trump campaign tried to coordinate with Russians," Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday's Late Show. "Prior to this, the clearest evidence was ... everything else." Manafort's legal team revealed this by accident, he added. "His lawyers are terrible! How did Trump not hire them?"

Colbert took some liberties with how Manafort's team messed up redacting the PDF: "They thought they blacked out all the text — turns out they just did it directly onto the screen," with a Sharpie. And he was less-than-sympathetic to Manafort's excuse.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.