Article snippet: Senate Republicans are warning MORE, who was convicted late Tuesday on an array of fraud charges. “It would be an enormous mistake and misuse of his power to pardon,” Sen. MORE (R-Maine), a prominent moderate, told reporters. Senate Republican Whip MORE (Texas), the second-ranking Senate GOP leader, said that pardoning Manafort “would be a mistake.” Senate Republican Conference Chairman MORE (S.D.), the third-ranking member of the GOP leadership, said he is not aware of any mitigating circumstances related to Manafort’s case that would warrant a pardon. “Pardons should be used sparingly and you have to have some awfully compelling circumstances I would think and I certainly don’t know what those are in this case,” he said. “Pardons need to be earned.” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman MORE (R-Tenn.) warned that pardoning Manafort “would be very damaging to the presidency and to his position as president.” Trump praised Manafort as “brave” shortly after a jury convicted him on five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failing to disclose a foreign bank account. He suggested that special counsel MORE brought an unfair case against Manafort in order to compel damaging testimony against the president. “I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. ‘Justice’ took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to 'break' - make up stories in order... Link to the full article to read more