They don’t sound weak to me at all. Frankly, I think the bigger concern for Americans is that the things Manafort is alleged to have done are not only illegal but are commonplace in Washington D.C. these days.
#1— Paul Manafort is a patriot who helped Donald Trump get elected. He got Trump over the hump, the Republican convention hump.
#2 Whatever Paul Manafort did as a lobbyist in Washington DC was done by at least 50-100 other people who remain un-indicted.
#3 The only reason Paul Manafort was indicted is that he worked for Donald Trump’s campaign. He was indicted as a warning to others to not help out Donald Trump.
#4 Paul Manfort will be forced to spend at least 2 million on lawyers which is punishment in and of itself. Not to mention he and his wife will be emotionally drained and forced to spend thousands of hours on Robert Mueller’s bullshit case.