Paul Manafort's defense team has responded to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's explanation of how exactly the Trump campaign chairman allegedly lied to prosecutors and broke his plea agreement.
CNN:
"When placed in proper context, much of the evidence presented by the (Office of Special Counsel) merely demonstrates a lack of consistency in Mr. Manafort's recollection of certain facts and events," lawyers for Donald Trump's former campaign chairman wrote Wednesday.
The filing is under seal, but the defense team must submit a public version with the necessary redactions before a hearing scheduled for Friday. Manafort wanted permission to skip Friday's hearing, but U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson is demanding he appear.
CNN:
Manafort has not been seen publicly since October, when he entered a hearing in a wheelchair because he was suffering from gout. He argued the transportation from Alexandria, Virginia's jail to Washington, DC's federal courthouse is too time-consuming.
Jackson said Manafort has skipped too many court hearings in his criminal case and that Friday's is a particularly important one for him to attend. At that hearing, Jackson plans to discuss how prosecutors allege Manafort broke his plea agreement by lying during cooperation interviews and while he gave grand jury testimony.
"Given the number of court appearances defendant has been permitted to waive, the significance of the issues at stake, and the fact that his being available to consult with counsel may reduce the likelihood that the defense position with respect to the issues discussed will change after the hearing, defendant's motion is denied," Jackson wrote in the order Wednesday.
Mueller prosecutors said they are ready to back up their accusations by presenting witnesses to testify about the alleged lies in the running disagreement.
Manafort’s attorneys have said any misstatements were unintentional and that the accusations could be sorted out at sentencing for the 69-year-old Manafort, where the extent of his cooperation and whether he has accepted responsibility for his crimes could affect any request for leniency.
(...)
Jackson, of the federal court for the District of Columbia, directed prosecutors to lay out to her the “factual and evidentiary basis” of their claims about Manafort’s lying, which they did earlier this month in a heavily redacted court filing that included a 31-page affidavit from an FBI agent.
Manafort’s defense team had inadvertently revealed some of the contested statements — including that Manafort shared polling data about the 2016 race with an associate who allegedly has ties to Russian intelligence — in a previous filing with information intended to be sealed but that became public because of a formatting error.
Even as he was working for the Trump campaign, Manafort continued to communicate with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian employee of his consulting business who the FBI says was linked to Russian intelligence, prosecutors have previously said in court papers.
(...)
Kilimnik, who is believed to be in Moscow, was charged in June with conspiring with his former boss to obstruct Mueller’s investigation.
Mueller accused Manafort of lying about the pair’s talks about a Ukrainian peace plan during the 2016 campaign; a meeting between the men while they were in Madrid; and Kilimnik’s alleged role in the witness tampering effort to which Manafort pleaded guilty.
Manafort’s attorneys — Kevin M. Downing, Thomas E. Zehnle and Richard W. Westling — have told the court Manafort had trouble recollecting certain details partly because solitary confinement at the jail has “taken a toll on his physical and mental health.”
Manafort's first sentencing date is February 8th in Alexandria, VA where he was convicted of bank and tax fraud. His second sentencing date is March 5th in Washington, DC where he pleaded guilty to tax fraud, witness tampering, and illegal lobbying.
Ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort files sealed reply to Mueller allegations about lying (WaPo)
Manafort disputes Mueller accusations that he lied (CNN)
Manafort disputes Mueller's accusations that he lied; ordered to appear in court Friday (CNN)