Ex-Trump aide to plead guilty to avoid new trial
US President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has decided to plead guilty to charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller and avoid a second criminal trial, but it’s unclear whether he will cooperate with Mueller’s inquiry into Russian election interference.
Manafort agreed to plead to conspiracy against the US and conspiracy to obstruct justice by tampering with witnesses. He also agreed to forfeit some properties.
His decision to plead guilty, indicated in a court filing on Friday, came just days before jury selection was set to begin on September 17 in Washington, where Mueller accused him of conspiring to launder money, acting as an unregistered foreign agent of Ukraine and obstructing justice. Manafort, 69, was convicted last month of bank and tax fraud after a trial in Alexandria, Virginia.
Mueller, who is primarily examining Russian election interference, has secured guilty pleas and cooperation from several people, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, admitted financial crimes and is helping federal prosecutors in New York.
In pleading guilty, Manafort would admit he broke the law -- a concession he refused to make throughout his Alexandria trial and since he was charged nearly a year ago in Washington.
If Manafort had gone through with the second trial, he would have faced much of the same evidence that led to his conviction in Alexandria, including how he earned millions of dollars as a consultant to former President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine and his pro-Russia Party of Regions and was paid by wealthy Ukrainian businessmen through Cyprus accounts. Prosecutors said he used that untaxed income to support a lavish lifestyle.
Manafort’s guilty plea would come with a detailed admission of wrongdoing, which could shed light on his interactions with oligarchs from Ukraine and Russia. In an April court filing, Mueller’s prosecutors defended their pursuit of Manafort, even though he wasn’t charged with crimes related to Russian election interference. Prosecutors said they had to examine whether Russiabacked politicians and oligarchs served as a back channel to Russia in the campaign.
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