On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) stated that people “would be justified in feeling that there has been some miscarriage of justice” in Paul Manafort’s sentence of 47 months. Blumenthal said, “[T]he American people would be justified in feeling that there has been some miscarriage of justice here in the leniency of this sentence. Remember, those sentencing guidelines apply to all defendants, and the judge really needs a good reason to go below them. The recommendation of 19 to 25 years is an assessment of the severity of these crimes, and what Paul Manafort did was essentially, potentially threaten our very democracy, the principles of our democracy. That’s the reason that he is in that courtroom. That’s the reason that he’s been convicted of these very serious crimes, tax fraud and bank fraud and money laundering, which involved Ukrainian money used to impact the democracy.” (h/t Mediaite) Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
