Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman on Saturday said President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, “may never see the outside of a jail cell” after a federal judge revoked his $10 million bail in response to charges of witness tampering.
“Just to put this in historical perspective, what broke the Watergate case was when James McCord got a 25-year sentence,” Akerman said during an appearing on MSNBC’s “Velshi & Ruhle." “He was one of the Watergate burglars. He got a 25-year sentence. He was sitting in jail because that’s what made him crack and cooperate.”
“And here it could be even worse,” Akerman said. “It could be the beginning of a life sentence. Paul Manafort, if he does not cooperate, may never ever see the outside of a jail cell.”
Akerman served as a federal prosecutor and was a member of the Watergate prosecution team.
Manafort, indicted in both Washington and Virginia on a series of mostly financial-related charges, including defrauding the United States and conspiring to launder money, was sent to jail Friday. The longtime political operator and businessman had been on home confinement in Alexandria, Virginia, and was wearing an electronic monitoring device.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election and has made Manafort a focus of his probe, charged Manafort with witness tampering on June 4, leading to his imprisonment.
The federal judge who ordered Manafort to jail said he abused the trust placed in him six months ago.
“This hearing is not about politics,” U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson told Manafort. “It is not about the conduct of the office of special counsel. It is about the defendant’s conduct. I’m concerned you seem to treat these proceedings as another marketing exercise.”