Manafort convicted on 8 of 16 felony counts by split jury

President Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort was the first to choose trial rather than cooperate with the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. He was convicted Tuesday by a split jury who agreed to find him guilty on only 8 of the 18 felony counts against him, covering five counts of tax fraud and bank fraud charges, for which he could face long years in prison. The judge pronounced mistrial on the other counts. It showed Manafort as willing to go to great lengths to hide his financial relationships with Russian and pro-Russian oligarchs while working in Ukraine for over a decade. But the trial did not address allegations that Manafort helped the Trump campaign conspire with Russia and was therefore a setback for the Mueller probe. Neither was it shown that Trump was ignorant of Manafort’s dealings before making him campaign manager.