Manafort Pardon Allows Him to Keep Hamptons Mansion

A federal judge ruled Paul Manafort, former President Donald Trump’s campaign chairman who was convicted in 2019 of tax evasion and bank fraud charges, can keep his $7.3 million Water Mill mansion after Trump pardoned Manafort.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s order Friday in Manhattan federal court came at the request of prosecutors, who determined the pardon negated authorities’ forfeiture proceedings against Manafort.

“In light of the pardon of the Defendant, Paul J. Manafort, Jr., the United States of America, by and through its undersigned counsel, respectfully moves the court to dismiss all remaining assets for which no final order of forfeiture has been entered in these proceedings,” prosecutors said in court documents.

Manafort was convicted and sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison as part of the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump pardoned Manafort on December 23, less than a month before leaving office and seven months after Manafort was released to home confinement due to coronavirus concerns. Besides the Hamptons mansion, prosecutors also dropped their bid to seize Manafort’s properties in Brooklyn and Manhattan as well as funds in his bank account.

Built in 2001 on 2.37 acres on Jobs Lane in the Bridgehampton School District, the 10-bedroom, 6-bathroom home has 5,696-square-feet of living space spread across two stories. Outside, it has a tennis court, pool, spa, pool house, half court, formal gardens and a putting green.

Manafort, 70, who worked on Trump’s White House campaign for five months in 2016, was among the first in Trump’s inner circle to face charges in the Russia probe. In 2018, Trump called him a “brave man” for not cooperating with federal authorities.

Last month, New York State’s highest court rejected the Manhattan district attorney’s effort to prosecute Manafort on state fraud charges after the court ruled the case violated state double jeopardy laws, or trying someone twice for the same conduct.