Manafort didn't know how to convert PDFs to Word documents, left incriminating paper trail

[William Gayde]

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and associate Rick Gates were indicted last October by Robert Mueller for crimes including conspiracy "to defraud the United States." Mueller then expanded the charges this week in a new indictment. A former federal prosecutor described Manafort and Gates to the Washington Post as "extensive and bold and greedy with a capital G, but not all that sophisticated." One section of the indictment shows just how unsophisticated they were.

Manafort emailed Gates a .pdf version of the real [document], which showed a loss of more than $600,000. Gates converted that .pdf into a “Word” document so that it could be edited, which Gates sent back to Manafort. Manafort altered that “Word” document by adding more than $3.5 million in income. He then sent this falsified [document] to Gates and asked that the “Word” document be converted back to a .pdf, which Gates did and returned to Manafort. Manafort then sent the falsified [document] to Lender D.

Manafort and Gates were attempting to secure some loans but decided to falsify their financial documents to try to get better terms. The original document was a PDF file which is not easily editable in that form. The financial document Manafort planned to submit needed to be in .pdf form but it appears that Manafort was not tech savvy enough to figure out how to convert and edit it.

He decided to email it to his business partner, Gates, who converted it and sent it back. The two traded the document back and forth in various forms as they added their fake income and eventually submitted it.

This incriminating paper trail was caused by Manafort's lack of basic technical skills and inability to do things on his own. While editing a PDF document certainly isn't trivial, anyone with elementary computer knowledge or access to Google should be able to do it. If you're committing international conspiracy and are working for a major presidential campaign, it may not be a bad idea to brush up on your computer skills.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/73425-manafort-didnt-know-how-convert-pdfs-word-documents.html

 

[Uncle Al]

All that money and so little skill .... oh well, he should get some computer time while he's in prison ......

 

[VitalyT]

You've gotta be this dumb to want into government.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

You've gotta be this dumb to want into government.

I know right? Next we'll find out they kept classified documents on their own personal email server.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and associate Rick Gates were indicted last October by Robert Mueller for crimes including conspiracy "to defraud the United States."

no they weren't.. they were indicted yesterday, the 22nd... not last Oct. It's in the story you linked.

And then you bust out a line about brushing up on computer skills? I understand in the glee to post a story that makes Trump look bad sometimes mistakes happen.

 

[davislane1]

I understand in the glee to post a story that makes Trump look bad sometimes mistakes happen.

Of all the people who could be posting under pseudonyms on this site, I never would have figured you were actually James Comey.

Well played, Former Director.

 

[Rippleman]

Why is trump in the pic? Narrative at hand? Stupid just to get clicks.

 

[bicking]

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and associate Rick Gates were indicted last October by Robert Mueller for crimes including conspiracy "to defraud the United States."

no they weren't.. they were indicted yesterday, the 22nd... not last Oct. It's in the story you linked.


This was a second round of charges. They were both charged in October. Google is your best friend for research before making statements that are not true.

Direct from NBC article.

Gates and Manafort were indicted together in October in Washington, D.C., on charges related to their lucrative lobbying work for pro-Russian Ukrainian political figures and then hit this week with a new 32-count indictment in Virginia that contained additional charges of tax and bank fraud.

 

[drwho]

Gates was the bigger fool in this. He should have just instructed Manafort on how to change the documents, then he would have been in the clear, no dirty fingers in the crime.

 

[MUMMZ]

"If you're committing international conspiracy and are working for a major presidential campaign, it may not be a bad idea to brush up on your computer skills."

Well said xD

 

[hood6558]

Acrobat Pro DC (PDF creator/editor) has a free trial. and the paid version is 14.99/month. With millions at stake, how could they be so stupid? Oh, yeah, they're spin doctors for a political figure - enough said.

 

[elmkay3]

Does anyone else think that this is childsplay compared to the wider picture of fraudulent practice in the banking system and government? It's like 'Let's throw rotten fruit at these guys instead of looking at how to fix the broken financial system that let's people do this kind of thing literally all the time'

 

[Duke91928]

Smear Trump by any means necessary, eh? I feel bad for the guy, I mean, can you imagine being in his shoes under such scrutiny by the media, all the while knowing that Hillary Clinton had a friggin personal private email server in her home that was used to illegally house classified emails/files and she got off Scott free. The fbi director simply said she acted carelessly. She then went on to run for the presidency with the full support of CNN and the like. Even after receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from Russia (proven} for speeches. Honestly, if the man Committed a crime charge him, I dont care the political affiliation, but please stop with the one sided reporting. Show me anywhere that Trump received payment from Russians, any evidence of President Trump collusion with Russia. There is none, it would have leaked by now and you all know it. The real collusion with Russia was Hillary and Obamas selling of uranium to Russia. Heck, Hillary deleted all her emails and documents, something Manafort must have been too honest or ignorant to do. Since this is a tech site, I'm actually curious what type of server Ms Clinton had in her home, what hardware. What grade encryption. Could you do an article on that? Instead of pushing the Russia propaganda to cause discord in the U. S, oh, wait, didn't Mueller indict some Russians recently for exactly that charge?

 

[Duke91928]

"If you're committing international conspiracy and are working for a major presidential campaign, it may not be a bad idea to brush up on your computer skills."

Well said xD

Like Hillary did I guess, when she deleted all of her classified and illegally stored emails on her personal server?

 

[Duke91928]

All that money and so little skill .... oh well, he should get some computer time while he's in prison ......

I know plenty of people who are great at their job but lack computer skills. I mean, Trump got elected right? How would you rate Hillarys campaign staff?

 

[mcborge]

The words hoisted and petard spring to mind whilst reading this.

 

[Nero7]

So these are the descriptions that someone told to the washington post? I call fake news.

 

[JaredTheDragon]

So these are the descriptions that someone told to the washington post? I call fake news.

Anything coming from the Washington Post is already fake news. They're Langley's very own newspaper, complete with an intact and public paper trail.

 

[holdum323]

Hi I usually don't like getting involved discussing politics or religion. I'm 80 years old and I don't ever remember convincing anyone to change their mind and think like I do. Therefore when I discuss these two subjects, I pick those people that believe like I do.
I think we will know a lot more when this investigation is complete. I don't see that happening any time soon and that's not a good thing for anyone. That includes Trump and those that have already been indited by Mueller. We have a divided country and it gets worse every day. I feel sorry for my grand kids, because I don't see things getting any better. What ever is going on in Washington is not good. Hopefully we have a few good people on both sides that will get their heads together and do the right thing for our country.
USAF 1958-1962. Severed in Okinawa as a C130 electrician. I love that plane and it's my avatar

 

[dirtyferret]

Mueller is going to fill a whole wing of prison cells full of trump cronies and family members. Keep one cell open for the tweeting orange "genius".

 

[MUMMZ]

Like Hillary did I guess, when she deleted all of her classified and illegally stored emails on her personal server?

Are there any political leaders who are computer literate atm

 

[holdum323]

Are there any political leaders literate atm. (not)

 

[Jona King]

He he, Trump supporters are so cute. I'll bet they even whimper in their sleep: "zzz...zzz... But what about Hillary?...zzz...zzz..."

 

[holdum323]

Hi Stand by my friends! All Hell is about to break loose. Please stop worrying about Hillary. She's old news. She lost, in case you all only listen to Fox news. Here's some food for thought tonight. " A third of the angels followed Satan out of heaven" What was Satan's plan. I believe it was to over throw God. I'm not going to preach to you, but I suggest you start looking for the facts and forget those that cry "Witch Hunt" and "Fake News"
I'm counting on, and hoping there are still a few smart people left in Washington that will come to there senses, and lead our great country in the right direction again. If not, then we will go down like all empires in the past that failed .I'm to old to worry about these things, but I'm very sad that my grand children will suffer because we have become a stupid nation and allowed these things to take place.
The whole world is watching and wondering what in the Hell is going on with America. "Have you lost your freaking mind America?"
USAF 1958-1962. My commander in Chief was John Kennedy. I cried when I heard he was assassinated. Did you cry?

 

[holdum323]

Hi Would I run into a school where a person was using a AR 15 without some kind of weapon to take them out. Only a big bragger and a fool would even post such a foolish thing. Only someone that used bone spurs to avoid surviving their country, and avoid the draft would make this statement . Do you not recolonize a big phony when you see them?Yes if I had a weapon to take them out and was trained, I would not hesitate.
We do not need these kind of guns to hunt deer. When will we wake up? Hopefully our young people will lead us in the future and stop this stupid nonsense. I'm counting on you young people. Don't let this old man down! You are my only hope.
https://www.wired.com/2013/02/ar-15/