Paul Manafort Shared Polling Data on Trump’s 2016 Campaign with a Ukrainian Associate who has ties to Russian Intelligence, and also Met with the Colleague in Madrid while working on the Presidential Campaign, according to a Court Filing from Manafort’s Lawyers.
Manafort, already Convicted former Trump Campaign Chairman, is Accused of Lying to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Prosecutors about both of those Interactions with the Associate, Konstantin Kilimnik. He also did Not tell the Truth about his Meetings with Kilimnik “on more than one occasion” to discuss a Ukrainian Peace Plan.
Those Details, as well as an Exchange between Manafort and an Unidentified Person who was looking for an Introduction with Trump, were not Publicly known until Tuesday, when Manafort’s Attorneys put them into a Court Filing that was supposed to be Redacted. But Cutting and Pasting the blacked-out markings into another Word-Processing Document showed what had been Redacted.
Manafort’s Attorneys Filed a New Version of the 10-page Document more than an hour later with the U.S. District Court in Washington that again Blacked Out the Material, but by then the earlier Version had been Downloaded and Shared widely on the Internet.
Manafort’s Lawyers maintain that All of their Client’s Misstatements to Mueller “were not intentional” and happened because he was Poorly Prepared for his Meetings with the Special Counsel, which started days before he pleaded Guilty and then began in earnest the day after his Sept. 14th Plea Hearing.
The Manafort Attorneys told the Judge that their Client’s Missteps came at a time when he’d been held for Months in Solitary Confinement in an Alexandria, Va., Jail, a stay that they said had “taken a toll on his physical and mental health” and led to “depression and anxiety.” Manafort, who sat in a Wheelchair during a Court Hearing in October, also has severe Gout, his Lawyers said. “These circumstances weighed heavily on Mr. Manafort’s state of mind and on his memory as he was questioned at length,” the Attorneys wrote.
Mueller Accused Manafort of Lying to his Prosecutors in late November and later said that the Breaches came in Five Different areas, including his Contacts with Kilimnik and the Trump Administration. Citing Manafort’s Electronic Communications, the Special Counsel said he had remained in touch with Trump Aides, including a May 26th, 2018, Text Exchange that came Months after his Initial Indictment authorizing a “person to speak with an administration official on Manafort’s behalf.”
In the Court Filing Tuesday that Failed to Properly Redact the Sealed Materials, Manafort's Attorneys also Revealed that Mueller had Accused their Client of Exchanging a Text Message with an Unidentified Third-Party who was asking Permission to use Manafort's Name “as an introduction in the event the third-party met the President.” “This does not constitute outreach by Mr. Manafort to the President,” the Lawyers wrote.
In their Filing, Manafort’s Lawyers told the Judge that they did not need a Hearing to hash out Mueller’s Charges. Instead, they said, they would be Open to Resolving the matter during Pre-Sentencing Reports. The Lawyers also said they Reserved the Right to Fight back if Mueller brought New Charges Surrounding the allegations that Manafort Lied to Prosecutors.
In their Filing, Manafort’s Lawyers said Mueller’s Team had access to All of their Client’s Electronic Devices, Email Accounts, and Passwords. They also Defended their Client’s Recollections of his Meetings with Kilimnik, a Russian-Ukrainian Citizen who Served as his Key Representative on the ground in Ukraine during a Series of Political Campaigns in which Manafort served as a Highly Paid Consultant. Manafort Denied that he was trying to Conceal the Meetings he had with Kilimnik, who has also been Charged in Mueller’s wide-ranging Investigation, and instead had just Fforgotten about them until he’d been presented Evidence to Refresh his Memory.
“Such a failure is unsurprising here, where these occurrences happened during a period when Mr. Manafort was managing a U.S. presidential campaign and had countless meetings, email communications, and other interactions with many different individuals, and traveled frequently,” the Manafort Attorneys argued.
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson Ordered Mueller to Respond by Jan. 14th with “factual and evidentiary basis” for why it is Accusing Manafort of Lying during his Cooperation. She also gave Manafort’s Lawyers until Jan. 18th to Respond to the Special Counsel’s Filings. Jackson also said she’d Review All the Filings before deciding whether to hold a Jan. 25th Hearing on the Issue.
Manafort is Scheduled to be Sentenced Feb. 8th by U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III in Northern Virginia for his Conviction on Eight Felony Counts of Bank and Tax Fraud. He also has a March 5th Sentencing before Jackson in Washington for his Guilty Plea on Conspiracy against the U.S. and Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice.
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