Paul Manafort's conviction earlier this week may add impetus to a legislative effort by Albany Democrats that would offer a path for state prosecutors to pursue criminal cases against persons on state crimes even if the defendant has received a presidential pardon from federal charges.

Bill sponsors stressed however that even if the former campaign chairman for President Donald Trump were to receive a pardon from his conviction on eight criminal charges, legislation to close New York's so-called double jeopardy loophole still wouldn't allow state prosecutors to charge him with state crimes.

They hope knowledge of that fact, in addition to Manafort's conviction (a federal jury in the Eastern District of Virginia was deadlocked on 10 of the 18 counts), will spur their cause, which has so far fallen on deaf ears among the state Senate's Republican majority.

“I hope people realize that the ship has really sailed for those acts that underly the federal charges that have already been brought on this issue for Manafort because the law was not in place when his federal case was brought,” said Sen. Todd Kaminsky, D-Nassau, a sponsor of the bill.

That's because jeopardy attached in Manafort's case when the jury was seated, Kaminsky said. He's safe from being charged by state prosecutors for the same acts, though there are a few exceptions that deal with state tax issues and unrelated state acts. The legislation also would not apply to Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen after he took a guilty plea earlier this week.

Kaminsky, along with Assemblyman Joe Lentol, D-Brooklyn, introduced the bill earlier this year to close the double jeopardy loophole in New York, a provision that currently prohibits state prosecutors from charging someone with a state crime based on the same set of facts used to try someone on federal charges.

The bill was born from a letter sent from the state attorney general's office to the Legislature and Cuomo this spring urging them to consider a change in the law. The letter was written by former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, but support for the legislation has continued under current Attorney General Barbara Underwood.

“This office has been urging Albany to close the loophole in New York's double jeopardy law since April,” said Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for Underwood. “President Trump has repeatedly abused his pardon powers to undermine the rule of law and, especially in light of recent events, it's more urgent than ever that the state Legislature act.”

The bill gained renewed support on Thursday from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who said to reporters in Owego, New York, that he would sign the bill immediately if lawmakers approved it.

“I believe the state of New York should immediately pass a bill that says even if the president pardons someone, they can still be prosecuted in the state of New York,” Cuomo said. “So, if they try to get political with the justice system, which is not beyond them, it will not work.”

Kaminsky said the case is closed for state prosecutors on Manafort, but state charges against any future targets of the probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller could be possible if Republicans are convinced to approve his bill.

“If you think about a whole bunch of different names, a whole bunch of different targets we don't know about now that Mueller might have lined up and might want to speak with, we really are operating against the clock,” Kaminsky said.

The legislation is unlikely to pass as it's currently written for two reasons. Lentol said there are flaws in the bill that he wants to work with legal experts to resolve before it's considered in the Assembly.

The legislation could backfire in ways that may not sit well with Democrats, who hold the majority in the chamber, Lentol said. If someone is pardoned on federal charges related to civil disobedience, for example, the legislation would allow a state prosecutor to bring their own charges if they disagreed with the pardon.

“I think we could do this and really make matters worse for people who are in a situation to get pardoned and have to get retried again,” Lentol said. “I think that these unintended consequences need to be vetted before we move forward.”

There are also possible constitutional conflicts in the bill as it's written now, Lentol said. Legislating on situations where a person may be tried twice for the same crime may be especially problematic, he said.

The bill would also need approval from the Republican majority in the state Senate, including Sen. Pat Gallivan, R-Erie, who chairs the Crime Victims, Crime, and Correction Committee in the State Senate. He was against the bill when it was introduced earlier this year and said on Thursday the Manafort conviction hasn't changed his mind.

“I think double jeopardy is there to protect individuals from government, essentially, and it goes back as a constitutional basis and when we start introducing laws to change what the Constitution protects, that presents problems,” Gallivan said.

It's not a loophole, Gallivan said, it's part of state law. He questioned why Democrats want to change the effects of a presidential pardon while leaving unexamined Cuomo's exercise of his power to grant clemency.

“I think this is just picking and choosing what you're saying it's OK for the president to do,” Gallivan said. “The question I would pose is why is this OK for the president to do but the governor can grant conditional pardons to 36,000 people?”

He was referring to Cuomo's executive order earlier this year restoring voting rights to individuals on parole. Senate Republicans are planning hearings on the governor's power to grant such pardons for sometime this fall.

Gallivan said he would not budge on the legislation as it's currently written, but may feel differently if it offered a change to the state's constitution.

“If the legislation was proposing a constitutional amendment, then perhaps I would look at it differently,” Gallivan said. “But it's not. It's using state law in some sense to get around the Constitution and provide exceptions. Some will question whether it's constitutional or not.”

Even if Gallivan and his Republican colleagues agreed to support the bill, the earliest opportunity for it to become law wouldn't be until January, which is when lawmakers return to Albany for a session. There have been rumors of a special session throughout the summer, but none have come to fruition.

Kaminsky said the bill's best chances would be under a change of leadership in the Senate. In November's election Democrats are hoping to regain a Senate majority for the first time in nearly a decade.

Even if that happens, the bill will still need amendments to win the support of Lentol and his colleagues in the lower chamber. Neither chamber passed the measure through committee before the session ended in June.