Manafort is clearly angling for a pardon, former Clinton press secretary says

In a last-ditch effort to secure a lighter sentence for their client, lawyers for Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chair who was convicted last year of eight counts of financial fraud, have argued that because Manafort is not being charged by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office with any involvement in Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election — the primary focus of Mueller's investigation — he should receive leniency.

The defense team is calling for a sentence of fewer than 10 years, a stark contrast to a previous sentencing memo from Mueller's office which recommended Manafort be sentenced to between 19 and 25 years in prison.

But in an appearance on CNN on Tuesday, Joe Lockhart, a former Clinton administration White House press secretary, said that the legal team's statement was intended not for Judge Amy Berman Jackson, but President Trump. Lockhart argued that Manafort hopes to secure not a lighter sentence, but a presidential pardon.

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"It was written for the president and the president alone, to say 'You're being persecuted here, Donald Trump,'" Lockhart said, pointing out similarities between the request and Trump's tweets. "'I'm being persecuted for the same thing. Help me out here, pardon me.' That's what it's all about."

Trump has declined to rule out a pardon for Manafort. Watch the clip at Mediaite.