Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort found guilty on bank and tax fraud charges

A Virginia jury found President Trump’s luxury-loving former campaign chairman guilty Tuesday of eight counts of tax and bank fraud.

While the jury of six men and six women deadlocked on another 10 charges, the conviction is a major victory for special counsel Robert Mueller and a blow to the President’s claims that the investigation is nothing more than a “witch hunt.”

Manafort was convicted of hiding million of dollars in offshore accounts and lying to obtain loans after the income he earned working for pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians dried up.

Prosecutors, after entering more than 300 pieces of evidence and presenting 27 witnesses over nearly three weeks, said during closing arguments that the case simply boiled down to “Mr. Manafort and his lies.”

The 69-year-old GOP strategist lied to the IRS and banks to maintain his luxurious lifestyle, they argued. He also lied to procure millions in bank loans when his international income began to drop off.

While jurors agreed, the President did not.

“I feel very badly for Paul Manafort,” Trump said as he arrived in West Virginia for a rally. “Paul Manafort’s a good man. He was with Ronald Reagan. He was with a lot of different people over the years. And I feel very sad about that.”

Trump went on to denounce Mueller and distance himself from the conviction.

“It doesn’t involve me … it’s a very sad thing,” Trump said, adding that the Manafort case “has nothing to do with” Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“This is a witch hunt, and it’s a disgrace. This has nothing to do — it started out looking for Russians in our campaign, and there were none,” he added.