Caution, you have to be able to think a little to follow along
Manafort appears to have a serious problem, and it's all about tax evasion and little about all the other window dressing
He appears to have not paid income taxes on a significant amount of foreign income, that's a significant issue. He's not the only person who avoids paying taxes though, Obama's Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Senator Tom Daschle, Senator John F Kerry, Representative Charlie Rangel, Representative Alcie Hastings have all evaded taxes to various degrees, albeit not to the extent Manafort appears to. I'm not justifying tax evasion, I'm just pointing out it happens even by tax increasing politicians in DC, and such is going to help me mock "charge number one"
He also appears guilty of not filing FBAR's, essentially not disclosing to the IRS foreign bank accounts with greater than $ 10,000 in them. I'm thinking hundreds of thousands of people fail that one too, although probably not to the tune of the millions Manafort may have failed to report.
He appears to be guilty of not registering as a foreign agent. I can't speak to this issue with first hand experience or understanding, but I've heard people say there are thousands of such unregistered agents in DC, and I tend to believe that's probably true. For example, I doubt Bill and Hillary have registered as foreign agents despite the fact that received millions of dollars from foreign entities whom they helped to influence foreign policy for. They received payments through their foundation and speaking fees.
Manafort appears to have a serious problem, and it's all about tax evasion and little about all the other window dressing
He appears to have not paid income taxes on a significant amount of foreign income, that's a significant issue. He's not the only person who avoids paying taxes though, Obama's Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Senator Tom Daschle, Senator John F Kerry, Representative Charlie Rangel, Representative Alcie Hastings have all evaded taxes to various degrees, albeit not to the extent Manafort appears to. I'm not justifying tax evasion, I'm just pointing out it happens even by tax increasing politicians in DC, and such is going to help me mock "charge number one"
He also appears guilty of not filing FBAR's, essentially not disclosing to the IRS foreign bank accounts with greater than $ 10,000 in them. I'm thinking hundreds of thousands of people fail that one too, although probably not to the tune of the millions Manafort may have failed to report.
He appears to be guilty of not registering as a foreign agent. I can't speak to this issue with first hand experience or understanding, but I've heard people say there are thousands of such unregistered agents in DC, and I tend to believe that's probably true. For example, I doubt Bill and Hillary have registered as foreign agents despite the fact that received millions of dollars from foreign entities whom they helped to influence foreign policy for. They received payments through their foundation and speaking fees.