The trial of the year is going on right now, with Paul Manafort facing charges related to his shady dealings with foreign governments – particularly the Russians.

We’ve known for a while that Manafort is shady as all hell. I’m not contesting that. What I am surprised by is just how much truth is found in the statement “Everything Paul Manafort touches is corrupted.” This includes, strangely, his wardrobe.

I have to be careful here, because (again) I don’t want it to look like I’m defending Manafort. He is a corrupt, greedy individual whose past was a known quantity when Donald Trump originally hired him for the campaign. However, it seems so very odd to me that the media has picked up on the prosecution’s focus on Manafort’s clothing as a sign that he was a soulless Russian lackey.

Take a look at Paul Manafort's luxury jackets, including a $15,000 ostrich coat https://t.co/D0y8CtYw6h pic.twitter.com/MjXE5T9IEF

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 2, 2018

I didn’t even know people made coats out of ostrich, but I hate ostriches and I want a coat made from one solely out of spite (I’ll post a link to my GoFundMe later).

Did Mueller’s team investigate Manafort’s wardrobe separately for a whole six months? Is clothing somehow evil or able to make greed-based decisions to support foreign governments on their own?

CNN isn’t the only one to pick up on it. Multiple reporters and outlets thought that this was a truly reasonable story to latch onto, for reasons that are frankly beyond me. Unless Manafort had a closet devoted solely to lab coats – which are inherently evil garments (sorry doctors) – I am not sure that wardrobe makes the man evil.

There are plenty of reasons to go after Manafort. Stories of his moral failings as a businessman are aplenty. But, his wardrobe isn’t this big a story, and it amazes me that some media are treating it as one.