Trump Can Save Manafort with a Pardon. The Question Is, Will He?

With Paul Manafort convicted as a tax and bank cheat, President Donald Trump now has a decision to make about his former campaign chairman.

Fresh off calling Manafort a “good person” whose treatment by prosecutors was “very sad,” Trump could forgive his crimes and grant a pardon that allows him to escape all punishment. Or Trump could make a less politically risky move, like waiting and eventually commuting Manafort’s sentence, which would free him from prison but leave his conviction intact.

Paul Manafort

Photographer: Aaron P. Bernstein/Bloomberg

Trump may wait months before acting, but a pardon or commutation would be his most dramatic moment of ...