Paul Manafort's New York fraud case was dismissed on the basis of double jeopardy

It looks like President Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort is off the hook in one criminal case, which could ultimately allow him to receive a presidential pardon.

Manafort, who was indicted during former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into 2016 Russian election interference, was convicted on federal charges of tax fraud and conspiracy earlier this year and is serving a seven-and-a-half year prison sentence. But a New York state court judge in Manhattan dismissed local fraud charges against Manafort on Wednesday, The Washington Post reports.

Manafort's lawyers argued their client was already tried for the same crimes, and Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley agreed it amounted to double jeopardy under state law. The local charges were viewed as an attempt to ensure Manafort was still held accountable for his crimes and remained in custody in the event that Trump issued a pardon for his federal convictions, per the Post.

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