Here’s the thing about those errant “manslaughter” charges against Paul Manafort
Earlier today ABC News briefly displayed an on-air graphic announcing that Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort has pleaded guilty to five counts of manslaughter. This was obviously incorrect, as Manafort hasn’t even been charged with manslaughter, but it did create quite a bit of confusion. ABC has since apologized for the error. Here’s the thing, though: this mistaken headline hit on an important pocket of truth.
Manafort has been charged with just about every crime under the sun, ranging from conspiracy against the United States, to money laundering, to obstruction of justice. Notably absent: any criminal charges in relation to his role in the murder of several people in Ukraine a few years back. The government of Ukraine has been pursuing Manafort on and off in this matter, and it’s never been entirely clear if Special Counsel Robert Mueller has the jurisdiction to charge Manafort for the murder of foreign nationals abroad.
In any case, Donald Trump quickly seized the opportunity to jump on Twitter and falsely accuse ABC News of conspiring with the federal investigators exposing his crimes. No serious person would believe that ABC’s error was anything other than a random errant graphic, but neither Trump nor his remaining supporters are serious people.
Paul Manafort is now in his fifth day behind bars. There is still no indication that he plans to plead guilty to anything. There is also no indication that he’s going to be charged with manslaughter. But we should probably thank Donald Trump for escalating this story, as he’s unwittingly shining a light on the fact that Manafort is indeed caught up in a murder/manslaughter scandal, even if he hasn’t been charged for it.
