State prosecutors in New York are reportedly preparing criminal charges against Paul Manafort , President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman – charges that would be beyond the scope of President Donald Trump's pardon power if Manafort were convicted.

Although the president has the power to issue pardons for federal crimes, the authority does not extend to convictions in state court.

Manafort next month is set to be sentenced for convictions in two federal cases brought by Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and potential collusion between the Kremlin and members of the Trump campaign.

Manafort faces up to 25 years in prison. He had previously reached a plea deal with prosecutors in one case brought in the District of Columbia, but he breached the terms of the agreement by repeatedly lying to investigators, a judge concluded last week.

Since Manafort's federal indictment in 2017, legal observers and political pundits have widely speculated whether Trump would pardon Manafort – and whether Manafort hoped to put himself in the president's good graces by deliberately working to obfuscate Mueller's investigation.

The Manhattan district attorney's office, however, has also been investigating Manafort since 2017, when it opened a probe into loans he had received from two banks. Those loans were part of the federal indictment that led to Manafort's conviction.

Prosecutors in the district attorney's office reportedly paused the state's investigation to avoid interfering in Mueller's probe. However, they have apparently resumed their investigation and began presenting more evidence to a grand jury.

