Paul Manafort – betting his future on a jury

Paul Manafort’s first trial starts today in which he is accused of filing false tax returns; four counts of failure to report foreign bank accounts; nine counts of bank fraud or bank fraud conspiracy. Court papers allege that he “generated tens of millions of dollars in income” from his work in Ukraine and “engaged in a scheme to hide income from United States authorities”. He faces a second trial in September on charges related to his lobbying work in Ukraine; plus an allegation of witness tampering.

If found guilty he faces decades in prison though it would only take one juror to find him not guilty for the case to fall. And he could be pardoned if it all goes down.

He was Trump’s campaign manager for five months and although the charges were raised at the behest of Mueller, it has nothing to do with Russian collusion. For a decade prior Manafort and Michael Cohen did business together.

Manafort, 1 April 1949 has a competitive and pro-active Sun, Mars, Venus, Mercury in Aries with his Sun Mars in a determined and controlling trine to Pluto and opposition Neptune – so soaring ambition; and a Yod of Uranus sextile Saturn inconjunct Jupiter in Capricorn. Certainly money-minded with Jupiter in Capricorn and that Yod can be undone by over-confidence.

He’s got tr Saturn in discouraging squares to his Aries planets and his Neptune through till after the New Year; with a major-setback Progressed Mars square his Saturn, around now and trailing on for maybe another year.  He will get a lucky break from tr Uranus square his Jupiter in December and January 2019 though with so much self-aggrandisement wrapped up in that apex Jupiter, it could backfire to send him completely off track. Transits to his midpoints are jangled this year; uncertain and neurotic next; and worse in 2020.

Manafort’s Aries planets fall in Trump’s 8^th suggesting hidden financial dealings and a deep connection; though M’s Uranus is conjunct Trump’s Sun and his Saturn is conjunct Trump’s Ascendant – so he’ll have the tendency to throw Trump off track and damp his image.

Their relationship chart has a chained-together-with- superglue composite Sun square Saturn Pluto, not necessarily bosom-buddies but an entanglement that it’ll be very difficult to unpick. Their connection looks to be sagging badly from late March 2019 till early 202o with tr Neptune square the composite Mars; and worsening thereafter.