| | | | The stunning fall of Paul Manafort |  | | When Paul Manafort entered an Alexandria, Virginia, courtroom on Thursday, he did so in a wheelchair. And dressed in a green prison jumpsuit.
That picture of Manafort, who was sentenced Thursday to 47 months in jail for a panoply of financial crimes having to do with his long relationship with Ukraine, was eons away from the bespoke pinstriped-suit wearing, ostrich-leather-coat-having political operative who seemed on top of the world as he toured Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump around the Republican National Convention in the summer of 2016.
The starkness of that contrast highlights how quickly Manafort rose in the understaffed world of then-candidate Trump and how precipitously he has fallen in the two-and-a-half years since that triumphant moment in Cleveland.
Manafort was widely considered to be past his political prime -- he came of age, professionally speaking, during the Reagan years -- when Trump suddenly named him campaign chairman and chief strategist in May 2016. Manafort's hire was meant to send a message to Washington Republicans: Trump was serious about representing the party in 2016 and was putting respected, veteran aides around him to accomplish that goal. (Manafort replaced Corey Lewandowski, a controversial figure whose qualifications for the job were primarily his unswerving loyalty to Trump.)
(A quick survey of respected GOP officials at the time would have, inevitably, turned up considerable doubts about both Manafort and his business practices. But Trump almost certainly didn't do that.)
In the months following Manafort's promotion, Trump's decision to hire him looked like a stroke of genius. Trump crushed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the final weeks of the primary season and easily crested the required number of delegates needed to formally be the party's nominee. By the time the traveling roadshow that was (and is) Donald Trump arrived in Cleveland to accept his prize, Manafort was being touted in some circles as the comeback kid -- the man who brought order to the Trumpian chaos.
It didn't last. Within a month of the convention's close, Manafort was gone. While the official storyline was that he had "resigned," it was clear from contemporaneous reporting that he had been pushed aside amid heightened scrutiny of Manafort's past dealings with pro-Russia Ukrainian politicians.
That thread, once pulled, unraveled Manafort entirely. Manafort's activities in Ukraine became a focus of special counsel Robert Mueller and he was indicted, tried and found guilty. Manafort then agreed to cooperate with the Mueller probe but was found to have broken that agreement -- nullifying it.
Which brought us to Thursday, when the legal system got closer to closing its book on Manafort. Manafort will receive a second sentence next week from a different federal judge for the two crimes he pleaded guilty to last year, witness tampering and conspiracy.
The Point: Manafort's hubris -- to take the job with Trump, to flout the special counsel, to break his plea agreement -- brought him low. It's a story as old as time.
-- Chris | | "I know my colleague from Wisconsin did not mean to offend the many, many thousands upon thousands of Nickleback fans in his district."
-- Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis defending the honor of the Nickleback fandom (of which he is a member) from the House floor amid debate today about campaign finance, voting rights and ethics. | | | What's to be done when the President messes up your name in front of a spray of cameras and reporters? You change your Twitter handle accordingly.
At least that's what Apple CEO Tim Cook has done.
Trump referred to Cook as "Tim Apple" amid a panel with the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board at the White House on Wednesday.
Cook didn't acknowledge the President's misstatement in the moment. But today, he did quietly change his Twitter handle to reflect the new monicker. | |
LATEST 2020 POWER RANKINGS | |  | Bernie's entrance shakes up the 2020 playing field | | Sen. Bernie Sanders officially entered the 2020 race and drastically changed the power dynamic in the Democratic field. Chris explains.
And read Chris and Harry Enten's full 2020 power rankings here. | | | Phosphorescent sang two songs for a "Spotify Singles" recording session. This version of "C'est La Vie No. 2" is eerie and beautiful. | |  | | Today's topic: John Kelly just undermined the WH story on family separations. | |  | Joe Biden's 2020 problem, deciding to run | | Former Vice President Joe Biden is one of the top Democratic contenders in 2020. The problem? He hasn't officially decided to run, and time is running out.
Have you officially decided to subscribe to The Point on YouTube? | | Speaking of Joe Biden, the former senator and VP has appeared on CSPAN a LOT over the last 36 years. Like, a whole lot.
Biden appears in 1,543 videos -- only 29 other people have appeared on the channel more times, according to CSPAN's Jeremy Art. | | Sherrod Brown: Is NOT running for president. The Ohio senator plans to remain in the Senate.
Kamala Harris: Has been endorsed by Washington, DC, Attorney General Karl Racine.
Seth Moulton: Is planning an early state tour with a focus on VFW halls and college campuses. | | Former Texas Rep. Ralph Hall has died at the age of 95.
Hall was the oldest person to ever serve in Congress -- and was the last of two WWII veterans to serve in the House (the other was Rep. John Dingell, who also recently died).
A longtime conservative Democrat, Hall endorsed fellow Texan George W. Bush for president in 2000, but didn't switch his party affiliation to Republican until 2004 -- near the end of his 17-year tenure in the House. | | | | | | |
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