Mueller Submits Heavily Redacted List of Manafort Lies

News  |  Jan 16, 2019

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office submitted a court filing Tuesday detailing all the ways the government knows Paul Manafort lied to prosecutors and was in breach of his plea agreement. The document is heavily redacted but appears to line up with the information Manafort's attorneys accidentally revealed when they improperly redacted a response to the special counsel's original determination. 

NPR

Manafort, the document says, lied about payments and financial relationships; about his dealings with his business associate Konstantin Kilimnik, who also was indicted last year; his contacts with people in the Trump administration; and other topics.

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Manafort's lawyers say any incorrect statements were inadvertent and that he has given the government valuable information.

Tuesday's submission was the latest installment in a battle of court filings in the dispute over the plea agreement ... 

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Manafort and his lawyers argue that his plea agreement is still in effect and that he still should get consideration from a judge when he is sentenced. Whether or not his cooperation is considered — depending on the viability of the plea deal — could make a significant difference in the amount of prison time that Manafort could receive at sentencing. 

But no matter how the current dispute ends between Manafort and federal authorities, that may not be the end of the story for him. Trump has praised what he called Manafort's toughness and unwillingness to "break."

The president also hasn't ruled out pardons for Manafort or others in the Russia imbroglio. 

President Trump's attorney general nominee William Barr, who sat for his first day of confirmation hearings Tuesday, is no stranger to presidential pardons. 

The last time Barr served as attorney general, in the administration of President George H.W. Bush, he supported that president's use of pardons at the end of the Iran-Contra affair.

Read the document

Feds List What They Call Manafort Lies But Few Details Visible In Blacked Out Filing (NPR)