Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal said that a guilty plea entered by New Britain native Paul Manafort is bad news for President Donald Trump in the ongoing investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
The former Trump campaign manager pleaded guilty to two charges in federal court Friday.
“My reading of the plea agreement is that Paul Manafort’s going to be cooperating about everything he knows, including the campaign, and that’s really bad news for Donald Trump,” Blumenthal told Connecticut Public Radio.
Manafort is the son of former New Britain Mayor Paul J. Manafort. He got his start in politics working for his father in the 1960s.
He’s not necessarily being convicted for election interference, but he has agreed to provide full cooperation to the special counsel leading the investigation. Manafort’s lawyer said his client made the plea “to make sure that his family was able to remain safe and live a good life.”
Blumenthal went on, “today’s guilty plea and cooperation agreement add to the already extensive list of Trump associates who have admitted to engaging in serious criminal wrongdoing, including Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Rick Gates, Michael Cohen, and Paul Manafort himself.”
In addition to Friday’s plea, Manafort faces 10 years in prison after being found guilty of bank and tax fraud in a Virginia federal court last month.
