Paul Manafort found guilty on eight counts of bank and tax fraud with mistrial declared on 10 other charges

Former Trump campaign manager 'disappointed' by verdict

Donald Trump's former campaign chairman has been found guilty on eight counts of bank and tax fraud, a jury has ruled.

The jury was undecided on the 10 other counts against political strategist Paul Manafort, leading Judge TS Ellis to declare a mistrial on those charges.

The jury took four days to find Mr Manafort guilty on on five counts of tax fraud, one count of failing to disclose his foreign bank accounts, and two counts of bank fraud.

An attorney for Mr Manafort said his client was disappointed by the ruling, and was evaluating all of his options.

Mr Manafort had pleaded not guilty to all 18 charges. No sentencing date has been set, as his attorneys have until 29 August to decide if they will seek a retrial. Prosecutors previously recommended eight to 10 years in prison if he was found guilty on all charges.

The decision came as Michael Cohen, the president's long-term personal lawyer, pleaded guilty to campaign finances charges in a separate case.

Mr Manafort is the first former Trump campaign official to be found guilty on charges stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Mr Trump has repeatedly dismissed Mr Mueller's investigation as a "witch hunt" and called for it to end. He has also been quick to point out that this case does not involve Mr Manafort's work on his campaign, or contain any allegations of Trump team collusion with Russia.

Arriving in West Virginia for a rally on Tuesday night, the president said he "felt badly" for Mr Manafort, but added that the case had "nothing to do with me".

In previous tweets, Mr Trump has suggested that his campaign manager's case was handled unfairly, saying Mr Manafort was being "treated worse" than legendary mafia boss Al Capone.

After the jury's verdict was released, vice chair of the Senate intelligence committee Mark Warner said the decision "makes it absolutely clear that the Mueller probe is not a ‘witch hunt’ – it is a serious investigation that is rooting out corruption and Russian influence on our political system at the highest levels".

"The president’s campaign manager was just convicted of serious federal crimes by a jury of his peers, despite the president’s continued attempts to undermine the investigation which has brought Mr Manafort to justice," he added.

A number of Democratic senators joined Mr Warner in calling for an end to any talk of pardoning Mr Manafort. Senator Patrick Leahy said any attempt to pardon the strategist would "have Watergate written all over it".

The jury had signalled their disagreement on some of the charges earlier on Tuesday, asking the judge how they should fill out the jury form if they could not reach consensus on a single count.

Mr Ellis reconvened the panel in open court, according to the Associated Press, and urged them to listen to one another.

“You are not partisans," he said. "You are judges.”

The trial itself took three weeks, with prosecutors alleging Mr Manafort had hidden tens of millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts, and lied to US banks in order to obtain even more money in loans. Much of the testimony centred around the political operative's lavish spending, including a $15,000 ostrich jacket.

"When you follow the trail of Mr Manafort's money, it is littered with lies," prosecutor Greg Andres told the jury, according to CBS News.

The adviser faces a separate set of charges in Washington surrounding his political work in Ukraine. That trial is set to begin next month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.