As Paul Manafort goes down for 47 months, Americans need to face up to what this says about Donald Trump

Prosecutors in New York State are said to be strongly considering charging Manafort with state crimes which cannot be rescinded by a presidential pardon

"Lock her up! Lock her up!” Those words were regurgitated over and over again during Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, directed specifically at his opponent Hillary Clinton. In fact, the chant remains one of the favorites at Trump rallies across the US, acting as a continuation of sorts to Trump's seemingly empty promises to "drain the swamp" and take on political corruption in Washington DC.

The nation's eyes were focused on one particular courtroom in Virginia today, where a convicted criminal was just sentenced by a federal judge to a lengthy prison term. No, it wasn't Hillary Clinton, even though she had been on the receiving end of over six total years of investigations by Congressional Republicans. Instead, it was yet another member of President Trump's inner circle, his 2016 campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.

Federal Judge T S Ellis sentenced Manafort in the first of his two scheduled sentencings, handing down a punishment of 47 months for his conviction on eight tax and bank fraud charges last year.

This is significant for the 69-year-old Manafort, who previously lived a life of extravagance which included luxury cars, multiple homes and lavish ostrich and python skinned jackets. He may have seen his last day of freedom end approximately nine months ago when Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson revoked his bail. This came after evidence was discovered showing that he had contacted two witnesses in his case in order to allegedly influence their testimony. The second sentencing for Manafort will come next week, in regards to additional charges of conspiracy and witness tampering. This subsequent sentencing carries a maximum prison term of 10 additional years.

Manafort could have had his sentence reduced significantly if he had upheld his original agreement with prosecutors to cooperate in the Mueller probe. Instead, as Judge Jackson ruled earlier this month, he broke his cooperation agreement with prosecutors by lying to investigators. Prosecutors allege that he lied about "an extremely sensitive issue" in order to improve his chances of receiving a pardon from the president. Now it appears, however, that these purported attempts to seek a pardon may have been for naught, as prosecutors in New York State are said to be strongly considering charging Manafort with state crimes which cannot be rescinded by a presidential pardon.

Ultimately, while the charges which Manafort has been convicted of, and now sentenced for, do not relate to his work as campaign chairman for Donald Trump, it does bring up an important question: How can a man who had once promised to "drain the swamp" in Washington, and once said that he "only hires the best people," surround himself with individuals who would probably be at the top of the food chain in just about any swamp known to man?

It's not just one instance, but it's been proven over and over again that Donald Trump, in his run-up to the 2016 election, surrounded himself with individuals who have taken part in a vast array of crimes, engaged in inarguably immoral behavior, and acted like the very swamp creatures that the president promised to rid the nation's capital of.

Whether it be Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Cohen, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn or any one of the other Trump campaign aides who have been charged with, convicted of, or sentenced for significant federal crimes, it is almost impossible to truly believe that Donald Trump really had no idea that he was surrounded by corrupt and immoral individuals for, in some cases, several decades. After all, President Trump has known Paul Manafort and Roger Stone for over three decades, while Michael Cohen worked as Trump's attorney for over 10 years.

There are only two conclusions that a reasonable person can reach in regards to Donald Trump's ties to corruption and scandal. He either never intended to "drain the swamp" in the first place, instead opting merely to replace the existing swamp with a much murkier and more dangerous swamp of his own; or he is just really awful when it comes to hiring qualified surrogates. Most Democrats would probably say it's the former, while most Republicans would, with hesitation, settle on the latter. Regardless, neither situation is good for America.

Supporters of the President will claim that Hillary Clinton was "just as bad," or "even more corrupt," but there is no evidence showing that Hillary Clinton was surrounded by a litany of convicted criminals. And most importantly, Hillary Clinton is not the 45th President of the United States of America.

Ed Krassenstein is co-founder of Hill Reporter and the KrassenCast podcast