Political Wire

Manafort Tried to Broker Deal to Hand Assange to U.S.

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“In mid-May 2017, Paul Manafort, facing intensifying pressure to settle debts and pay mounting legal bills, flew to Ecuador to offer his services to a potentially lucrative new client — the country’s incoming president, Lenín Moreno,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Manafort made the trip mainly to see if he could broker a deal under which China would invest in Ecuador’s power system, possibly yielding a fat commission for Mr. Manafort.”

“But the talks turned to a diplomatic sticking point between the United States and Ecuador: the fate of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.”

Manafort Lied About Business Dealings to Mueller

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“Paul Manafort’s alleged misstatements to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators include comments about his personal business dealings and about his contacts with a former associate in Ukraine,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Those statements—among those described by Mr. Mueller as ‘lies’ and Mr. Manafort as ‘truthful information’ in a court filing Monday—are what led the special counsel this week to take the unusual step of ending the former Trump campaign chairman’s plea agreement 2½ months after it was reached.”

“The content of those statements don’t appear to be central to the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election that Mr. Mueller is investigating.”

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Trump Says Manafort Pardon Is Possible

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President Trump told the New York Post that he’s never discussed a pardon for Paul Manafort, but it’s “not off the table.”

Said Trump: “It was never discussed, but I wouldn’t take it off the table. Why would I take it off the table?”

He also charged that Manafort, Roger Stone and Jerome Corsi were all asked to lie by the special counsel: “You know this flipping stuff is terrible. You flip and you lie and you get – the prosecutors will tell you 99 percent of the time they can get people to flip. It’s rare that they can’t.”

Trump Wouldn’t Talk About Manafort On the Record

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Although he was willing to talk about a lot of things in his Washington Post interview yesterday, President Trump went off the record when asked if he was “planning to do anything to help” his embattled former campaign chief Paul Manafort.

Trump asked to “go off the record because I don’t want to get in the middle of the whole thing.” When asked if there was “any version” of what he said off the record that he’d be “willing to give us on the record.” Trump said he’d “rather not” and proceeded to go off the record again.

Manafort’s Lawyer Repeatedly Briefed Trump’s Lawyers

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“A lawyer for Paul Manafort, the president’s onetime campaign chairman, repeatedly briefed President Trump’s lawyers on his client’s discussions with federal investigators after Mr. Manafort agreed to cooperate with the special counsel,” the New York Times reports.

“The arrangement was highly unusual and inflamed tensions with the special counsel’s office when prosecutors discovered it after Mr. Manafort began cooperating two months ago… Some legal experts speculated that it was a bid by Mr. Manafort for a presidential pardon even as he worked with the special counsel, Robert Mueller, in hopes of a lighter sentence.”

Earlier for members: Was Paul Manafort an Unwitting Double-Agent?

Mueller Probes Manafort’s Meeting with Ecuadorian Leader

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Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has been investigating a meeting between former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno in Quito in 2017 and has specifically asked if WikiLeaks or its founder, Julian Assange, were discussed in the meeting, CNN reports.

Earlier Tuesday, The Guardian reported that Manafort secretly met several times with Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Manafort denies the meetings ever happened.

Manafort Denies Ever Meeting Julian Assange

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Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort told the National Review that he has never met privately with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and threatened to sue the Guardian for reporting that he has.

Said Manafort: “This story is totally false and deliberately libelous. I have never met Julian Assange or anyone connected to him. I have never been contacted by anyone connected to Wikileaks, either directly or indirectly. I have never reached out to Assange or Wikileaks on any matter. We are considering all legal options against the Guardian who proceeded with this story even after being notified by my representatives that it was false.”

Manafort Held Secret Talks with Julian Assange

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“Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort held secret talks with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and visited around the time he joined Trump’s campaign,” The Guardian reports.

“Sources have said Manafort went to see Assange in 2013, 2015 and in spring 2016 – during the period when he was made a key figure in Trump’s push for the White House.”

“It is unclear why Manafort wanted to see Assange and what was discussed. But the last meeting is likely to come under scrutiny and could interest Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor who is investigating alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.”

Is Robert Mueller About to Tell Us Something Big?

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In voiding Paul Manafort’s cooperation agreement, special counsel Robert Mueller also promised extensive information on Manafort’s alleged lies before he is sentenced, the Washington Post reports.

“Mueller’s team has always been tight-lipped publicly, but it has made some key disclosures through indictments… The Mueller filing on Manafort’s alleged lies won’t be an indictment, per se, and there is a very real chance it could remain under seal to protect the ongoing investigation. But if it is made public, it would give Mueller a chance to say whatever he feels like disclosing, and notably without Whitaker’s approval — which would be required for a new indictment or for releasing a final report, if Whitaker has indeed taken oversight of the probe and supersedes Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.”

Member feature

Was Paul Manafort an Unwitting Double-Agent?

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This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

Most legal experts see no rational explanation for Paul Manafort to break his plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller by lying in his testimony — unless, of course, Manafort is certain that he’ll be eventually pardoned by President Trump.

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Mueller Says Manafort Lied After Pleading Guilty

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“Prosecutors with special counsel Robert Mueller said Monday that Paul Manafort breached his plea agreement by lying repeatedly as they questioned him in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election,” the Washington Post reports.

“Manafort denies doing so, and both sides agree that sentencing should be set immediately.”

“The apparent collapse of Manafort’s cooperation agreement is the latest stunning turnaround in his case, exposing the longtime Republican consultant to more than a decade behind bars after pleading guilty in September on charges of cheating the Internal Revenue Service, violating foreign lobbying laws and attempting to obstruct justice.”

Mueller Not Happy with Manafort’s Level of Cooperation

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Talks between Special Counsel Robert Mueller and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort “have grown increasingly tense over Manafort’s apparent lack of cooperation with the investigation,” ABC News reports.

“Prosecutors from Mueller’s office have been asking Manafort about a wide range of topics in nearly a dozen meetings since Manafort agreed to cooperate in September, sources said, but the Mueller team is ‘not getting what they want.'”

“The consequences of failing to fully cooperate could be dire when it comes time for Manafort to be sentenced.”

Russian with Links to Manafort Under Scrutiny

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The Guardian: “A Russian man who is said to have ties to Moscow’s intelligence services will be receiving renewed scrutiny from special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russian 2016 election interference.”

“Mueller is investigating Konstantin Kilimnik with assistance from three Kilimnik associates, including Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who mentored Kilimnik as a political operative for pro-Kremlin figures in Ukraine.”

Giuliani Says Manafort Has Not Implicated Trump

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Under an unusual arrangement, Paul Manafort’s attorney has kept President Trump informed about the former campaign chairman’s meetings with prosecutors investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and, according to Rudy Giuliani, Manafort has not said anything damaging about the president, Reuters reports.

“Giuliani said the conversations were occurring under a so-called joint defense agreement, which allows lawyers who represent different clients to exchange information without violating attorney-client privilege. Legal experts said it was unusual for such an agreement to remain in effect after a person pleads guilty and agrees to cooperate with prosecutors as Manafort has done.”

Judge Denies Manafort Request to Wear Suit In Court

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“The judge in Paul Manafort’s Virginia trial denied the former Trump campaign chairman’s request to wear a suit for his next hearing on Oct. 19, and ‘all subsequent hearings,’ arguing that Manafort should be treated no differently than other defendants who are in custody,” TPM reports.

Wrote Judge T.S. Ellis: “Defendants who are in custody post-conviction are, as a matter of course, not entitled to appear for sentencing or any other hearing in street clothing. This defendant should be treated no differently from other defendants who are in custody post-conviction.”

Feds Freeze Russian Oligarch’s Assets

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“A sprawling mansion on the Upper East Side has been frozen as part of a hard-core battle between the US government and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska,” the New York Post reports.

“US officials say Deripaska, an aluminium billionaire, is close both with Russian mob leaders and Russian president Vladimir Putin — and that he is on the sanctions list because he is allegedly involved in murder, money-laundering, bribery and racketeering.”

“Deripaska also had President Trump’s ex-campaign manager Paul Manafort — who has been convicted of crimes including money-laundering and who is cooperating with US special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe — on his payroll for years.”

Manafort Meets with Mueller’s Team

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“Paul Manafort met with special counsel Robert Mueller’s office as part of his cooperation agreement in the special counsel’s investigation into Russia interference in the 2016 presidential election,” Politico reports

“The sit-down at the special counsel’s downtown Washington D.C. office stems from Manafort’s guilty plea last month, which requires the former Trump campaign chairman to cooperate ‘fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly…in any and all matters as to which the government deems the cooperation relevant.'”

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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