UPDATE 2: Judge Amy Berman Jackson is giving Paul Manafort until Thursday to explain why his ghostwriting and planning to publish an op-ed with a Russian associate was not a violation of the court's instruction that parties should not discuss the case with the media so as not to influence public opinion.
Manafort given until Thursday to explain ghost written op-ed about his Ukraine work (NY Daily News)
UPDATE: The New York Times confirms Paul Manafort was collaborating on the editorial with his longtime associate, Konstantin Kilimnik:
Mr. Kilimnik was born in Ukraine when it was still a part of the Soviet Union, and he served briefly in the Russian Army as a linguist, later telling associates that he had a background with Russian intelligence. But this year, as scrutiny mounted of his work with Mr. Manafort in Ukraine, Mr. Kilimnik steadfastly denied any association with Russian intelligence. And an investigation by Ukrainian prosecutors into Mr. Kilimnik’s possible links to Russian spy agencies was closed late last year without charges.
(...)
Mr. Kilimnik has maintained residences in Moscow and Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, and has traveled regularly between them during about a decade of working for Mr. Manafort on behalf of various Russia-aligned oligarchs and political parties.
Read more: Manafort Associate Has Russian Intelligence Ties, Court Document Says (NYT)
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team says Paul Manafort cannot be trusted and the court should reject his pending bail agreement.
In a new court document filed Monday, the government explains that Manafort, as recently as last Thursday, was working with a "long-time Russian colleague" who is "currently based in Russia and assessed to have ties to a Russian intelligence service" to ghostwrite an editorial in English defending Manafort's political work in Ukraine.
That writing violated a Nov. 8 court order "prohibiting such out-of-court statements in order to protect the fairness of the upcoming trial,” the court filing said.
“The editorial clearly was undertaken to influence the public’s opinion of defendant Manafort, or else there would be no reason to seek its publication (much less for Manafort and his long-time associate to ghostwrite it in another’s name),” the court filing said. “It compounds the problem that the proposed piece is not a dispassionate recitation of the facts.”
Manafort's pending bail deal would have taken him off house arrest, not required GPS monitoring, and allowed him to travel between Florida, Virginia, New York, and Washington, DC. In exchange, Manafort would put up real estate assets valued at $11.65 million.
The document does not identify the Russian, but Business Insider makes the reasonable assumption it is Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian Army-trained translator who has worked with Manafort since 2005.
CNN:
Prosecutors...have asked the court for the ability to submit details about Manafort's Russian contact and the op-ed under seal, so they would remain confidential.
Mueller just abruptly reversed course on his bail agreement with Manafort (Business Insider)
Mueller's Team Says Paul Manafort Recently Tried To Ghostwrite An Editorial About Himself (Buzzfeed News)
Manafort worked on op-ed with Russian while out on bail, prosecutors say (CNN)