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Mueller Details Manafort's Post-Plea Deal Lies in New Filing

On Friday, special counsel Robert Mueller filed the government's submission in support of its determination that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort breached his plea agreement.
Sputnik

Manafort was convicted of a number of fraud charges in the state of Virginia and later pleaded guilty to separate charges in DC. On Monday, the special counsel's office accused Manafort in a court filing of breaching his agreement, which stipulated that he "fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly" cooperate with the government.

In Mueller's filing on Friday, Manafort is accused of lying to prosecutors about his contacts with members of the Trump administration and his longtime business partner Konstantin Kilimnik.

The breach "leaves intact all the obligations of the defendant as well as his guilty plea, but relieves the government of its promises under the agreement," the filing states.

Manafort also lied about a payment to the tune of $125,000 to "a firm working for Manafort in 2017." 

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After Manafort signed his plea agreement, he said he had "no direct or indirect communications with anyone in the Administration while they were in the Administration and that he never asked anyone to try to communicate a message to anyone in the Administration on any subject matter," the document says.

However, the one-time Trump campaign chairman sent a text message on May 26 of this year authorizing a person to speak with an administration official on his behalf. According to a "Manafort colleague," Manafort said in February that he had been in communication with a senior administration official through that month.

Additionally, "a review of documents recovered from a search of Manafort's electronic documents demonstrates additional contacts with Administration officials."

"These were not instances of mere memory lapses," the document concludes. "If the defendant contends the government has not acted in good faith, the government is available to prove the false statements at a hearing."

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