about the maximum could be 24 1/2 years, according to the sentencing guidelines. it just seems like a very, very lenient sentence. uponle reflection, with some more reporting, it really is, andrea. i ve been consulting with experts today, andve people hav been contrasting the peoptreatm paul manafort got with what happens to poor defendants of color in drug cases. there s a case in south dakota of tax evasion where a person got nine years. $55 million was proved to the satisfaction of the jurors, and wesa even had the jury, one jur last night on lawrence o donnell, on then last word, saying it was 11-1 on the other ten counts. that s right, one hold-out. this was a complicated scheme that lasted tenth years. the reason the guidelines called for up to 24 years is because it met theus criteria for that. guidelines are designed so that federal sentences are fair. judge ellis, for reasons known
the program. thank you very much for tracking this and for your questions to nancy pelosi today. it s a critical day for two former members of president trump s inner circle. michael cohen facing backlash from the trump legal team for his denial to congress of ever seeing a pardon. and paul manafort being sentenced later today for bank and tax trade in virginia. manafort could get 24 or 24 1/2 years in prison. next week, another federal judge in washington could add another ten years or less to whatever term he receives today. joining me now, nbc white house correspondent kristen welker, msnbc contributor and former u.s. attorney barbara mcquade, msnbc contributor emily jane fox, national correspondent for vanity fair, and atlantic staff writer franklin mcfaul.
manafort s conduct after he pleaded guilty as pertinent to sentencing, they say. it reflects a hardened adherence to committing crimes and a lack of remorse. what they describe is years and years of criminal behavior, as you said, they say that he lied and misled his own bookkeepers, his lawyers, everyone from members of congress to the special counsel and the grand jury, as well as members of the trump administration. what paul manafort is facing here is about ten years in the d.c. courts. the special prosecutor is arguing that the judge essentially stacked that on top of whatever paul manafort gets in another case in the eastern district of virginia and alexandria, virginia, where he s also due to be sentenced in the next couple of weeks. over there, the judge is looking to sentence him up to 24 1/2 years in prison. this is a man who obviously is almost 70 years old. he s not in good health. so according to the special prosecutor, they don t want him to ever walk free again.
justice correspondent, evan perez, and cnn contributor, garrett graf. first, evan, walk us through what we ve learned from this memo. ryan, as you said, this is a pretty hardened set of facts here, according to the special counsel. they say that manafort essentially, he had a hardened adherence to committing crimes and a lack of remorse. keep in mind that the two crimes to which he pleaded guilty here in the district of columbia have a ten-year maximum. what they re asking for is for the judge here to essentially stack that on top of whatever manafort gets in his other case, which is a case across the river in alexandria, virginia, where a judge is waiting to sentence him there. and there the special counsel has asked for as much as 24 1/2 years in prison. so as you said, they re asking for paul manafort never to walk free again, essentially, because as they say, he has been lying, he has been lying to everybody
counts of conspiracy connected to his lobbying work in ukraine. the judge signed it with the special counsel prosecutors that manafort had misled investigators, thereby violating or voiding that agreement. the indication is prosecutors will not recommend leniency in this case. some context. this is one of two criminal cases. the other is in virginia. they also go to sentencing march 8th. another indicator that the probe is in the end game. in the virginia case, the judge is considering the sentence where guidelines call for manafort to get 24 1/2 years in prison for separate tax and bank fraud case. this comes as a new media reports that suggest prosecutors in new york state have also prepared tax and bank fraud charges against manafort. the district attorney s office offered no comment to fox news on the bloomberg report. what s not clear is the mechanism that would allow new