Here's the simplest explanation of Paul Manafort's indictment (It's not about Trump and collusion)

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Manafort indictment: Charges against Trump’s ex-campaign chairman explained

After months of investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, a federal grand jury indicted Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, and his business associate Rick Gates on 12 counts in connection with Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. Here’s what happened.

A lot will be said about the federal indictment of Paul Manafort and his business partner Richard Gates. Much of that will involve talk of “collusion,” Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, opposition research, etc. This talk might end up being relevant someday, but so far it’s not really relevant to the indictment.

Here, simplified and translated into layman’s terms, what the federal government is alleging:

Paul Manafort was a lobbyist for Putin-backed forces in Ukraine, and he allegedly covered it up by disguising payments and refusing to register as a foreign agent — which is required by law. Along the way, Manafort allegedly didn't pay taxes on this income. Manafort’s partner Gates is named in the indictment, too.

An indictment is not proof. It’s an accusation, and Manafort and Gates must be considered innocent until proven guilty. There’s plenty we know about this case, including the work he did for the Ukrainian clients and the filings he didn’t file, but there’s plenty we don’t know.

Read more at WashingtonExaminer.com