Political Wire

Judge Says Manafort Lied to Mueller

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A federal judge ruled that Paul Manafort lied to prosecutors with special counsel Robert Mueller “about matters close to the heart of their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election,” the Washington Post reports.

“The judge’s finding that Manafort, 69, breached his cooperation deal with prosecutors by lying after his guilty plea could add years to his prison sentence.”

“Manafort had denied intentionally lying after his plea deal, but U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District found he lied in three of five areas alleged by prosecutors. She said she would factor in his deception on other topics at sentencing March 13.”

Manafort-Linked PAC Failed To Report $1 Million

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“A super PAC closely linked to Paul Manafort is facing questions about why it failed to report a $1 million contribution received just before the 2016 presidential election,” TPM reports.

“In a Tuesday letter, the Federal Election Commission asked the Rebuilding America Now PAC for more information about the contribution, which the PAC first disclosed in an amended report in November 2018—some two years after the fact. The FEC letter raises new questions about the murky financial operations of the PAC, which was operated by two Manafort deputies.”

“Special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly investigating whether Rebuilding America Now illegally received foreign funds and was connected to a scheme that Manafort allegedly lied about while purportedly cooperating with Mueller.”

Manafort Makes Last-Ditch Attempt to Prove He Didn’t Lie

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“Paul Manafort’s lawyers made a last-ditch bid Wednesday to fight new charges that the former Donald Trump campaign chairman deceived special counsel Robert Mueller about his ongoing political work in Ukraine after his initial indictment,” Politico reports.

“Mr. Manafort did not lie,” the GOP operative’s attorneys argued in a heavily-redacted 13-page court filing.

Key Manafort Meeting at Center of Russia Investigation

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The Washington Post details a meeting between Paul Manafort, then Trump’s campaign chairman, Rick Gates, his deputy, and a former business partner of Manafort’s named Konstantin Kilimnik.

“The Aug. 2, 2016, encounter between the senior Trump campaign officials and Kilimnik, who prosecutors allege has ties to Russian intelligence, has emerged in recent days as a potential fulcrum in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. It was at that meeting that prosecutors believe Manafort and Kilimnik may have exchanged key information relevant to Russia and Trump’s presidential bid.”

The meeting ended “with the three men leaving through separate doors” so they wouldn’t be seen together.

Mueller Believes Manafort Kept Lying to Get a Pardon

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Last week’s release of the court transcript of a pre-sentencing hearing shows that special counsel Robert Mueller’s team was deeply concerned that Paul Manafort – after he had pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate them – continued to lie in hopes of receiving a pardon from President Trump, TPM reports.

As prosecutor Andrew Weissmann explained to U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson regarding why the government decided that Manafort has breached his plea agreement, “there was an unusual factor.”

Manafort Continued Work for Ukrainian

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“Prosecutors allege that Paul Manafort was working on Ukrainian political matters in 2018, after his indictment in the special counsel’s investigation, and also revealed that a former business associate of his who was assessed by the FBI to have ties to Russian intelligence attended President Trump’s inaugural,” the Washington Post reports.

“At the hearing, attorneys discussed whether Manafort may have been motivated to lie in one unspecified instance ‘to at least augment his chances for a pardon,’ the transcript states, suggesting prosecutors’ suspicion that Manafort might be trying to deceive them even now, after his guilty plea in September in Washington, in the hope of winning a reprieve from the president.”

Mueller Says Manafort Should Get No Leniency

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“Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office no longer believes former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort should get any credit for his cooperation when he’s sentenced next month,” NBC News reports.

“But prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said his office isn’t planning to pursue additional charges based on Manafort’s alleged lies to federal investigators after he agreed to cooperate in the investigation into Russian election interference. Weissmann also said the special counsel does not intend to bring Manafort to trial in the charges that were a part of his plea agreement.”

Manafort Continued Working for Russian Interests

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Washington Post: “The four words of unredacted text suggest that in February 2018 — four months after Manafort was first charged with crimes related to his work as a political consultant in Ukraine — he still appears to have been working on a peace initiative for Ukraine, a topic of intense interest to Russia.”

“And it suggests he was doing so in concert with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian employee of his consulting firm who is alleged to have ties to Russian intelligence… Nearly half of the filing is devoted to Manafort’s interactions with Kilimnik, including a section related to their communications in 2018, a sign of Mueller’s ongoing interest in what Manafort discussed with his younger Russian employee.”

Memo Describes False Statements by Manafort

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The special counsel’s office has released an affidavit by FBI agents detailing Paul Manafort’s lies to federal prosecutors since he agreed to cooperate with the government.

CBS News: “Manafort lied about several things in breach of his plea deal, including his contact with Konstantin Kilimnik, who ran Manafort’s office in Kiev. Kilimnik, who has ties to Russian intelligence, was indicted in June. Much of the information about Kilimnik was redacted in the filing, although Manafort admitted he conspired with Kilimnik to obstruct justice.”

“The affidavit also addressed another allegation in the special counsel’s December memo: while Manafort said he had no ‘direct or indirect communications’ with anyone in the Trump administration and never ‘asked anyone to try to communicate a message to anyone in the Administration,’ the special counsel says he was lying about this, too.”

Mueller Met with Trump’s Campaign Pollster

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Special counsel Robert Mueller sought information directly last year from one of Donald Trump’s campaign pollsters who is also a former business associate of Paul Manafort’s, CNN reports.

“Mueller’s team met with pollster Tony Fabrizio in February 2018, an interview that has not been previously reported and takes on new significance after Manafort’s attorneys revealed Tuesday that Mueller’s team is still interested in how Manafort shared polling data with his Russian intelligence-linked colleague.”

Manafort Shared Polling Data with Alleged Russian Spy

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“Special counsel Robert Mueller has accused former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort of sharing polling data with an alleged Russian spy during the 2016 presidential campaign, a new court filing by Manafort’s criminal defense lawyer has accidentally revealed,” CNBC reports.

“The alleged spy, Konstantin Kilimnik, is a former business associate of Manafort’s who is criminally charged with working with him to try to tamper with potential witnesses against Manafort before his scheduled federal criminal trials last summer.”

“Manafort’s lawyers meant for those accusations by Mueller to be sealed from public view. The sections containing the accusations are blacked out in an otherwise public document filed in federal court… But those sections are easily viewable when the sections are copied in a word processing file, and then pasted into a new document.”

Washington Post: “The apparently inadvertent revelation indicates a pathway by which the Russians could have had access to Trump campaign data.”

Manafort Advised White House on How to Attack Mueller

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Paul Manafort “provided advice to the president and senior White House officials during the earliest days of the Trump administration on how to undermine and discredit the FBI’s investigation into whether the president, his campaign aides, and family members conspired with the Russian Federation and its intelligence services to covertly defeat Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign,” Vox reports.

“Manafort himself was under criminal investigation by the FBI during this same time, a fact then known to the White House.”

Manafort Might Not Fight Claims He Lied to Mueller

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“Defense attorneys for Paul Manafort indicated Tuesday they might not contest special counsel Robert Mueller’s allegations that President Trump’s one-time campaign chairman lied to federal prosecutors,” The Hill reports.

Politico: “Manafort’s lawyers last week argued in a court filing that their client had done his best to provide useful and truthful answers to prosecutors’ questions over a dozen debriefing sessions held after the former lobbyist pleaded guilty in mid-September. But Manafort’s lead attorney said his team is now reviewing materials that the special counsel has shared spelling out its evidence, adding that his team would spend time talking with Manafort before determining its next move.”

Rubio Warns Against Pardoning Manafort

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Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) told ABC News that President Trump pardoning former campaign chairman Paul Manafort would be a “terrible mistake,” and that doing so could possibly “trigger a debate about whether the pardon powers should be amended.”

Said Rubio: “I think that would be a terrible… I really do. I believe it’d be a terrible mistake. Pardons should be used judiciously. They’re used for cases with extraordinary circumstances.”

Manafort Can Still Be Prosecuted on State Charges

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“The U.S. Supreme Court appeared unlikely Thursday to change its long-standing rule that putting someone on trial more than once for the same crime does not violate the Constitution’s protection against double jeopardy,” NBC News reports.

“That outcome — keeping existing rules in place — would potentially be a blow to Paul Manafort, who faces prison time for violating federal fraud laws. A presidential pardon could keep him out of federal prison, but it would not free him from being prosecuted on similar state charges — unless the Supreme Court changes the rule. But that seemed did not seem possible after Thursday’s oral argument before the justices.”

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

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