Manafort’s deal with Mueller keeps heat on Trump

United States

As Trump associates folded one by one over the last year under the pressure of federal investigators, there was always Paul Manafort. Until suddenly there wasn’t. Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, who for months stood resolute in his innocence and deter- mined to fight charge upon charge even as fellow onetime loyalists caved, reached an extraordinary plea agreement with special counsel Robert Mueller’s office on Saturday that requires him to assist the Russia investigation.

The deal, struck in Washington just days before Manafort was to have faced a second trial, is tied to Ukrain- ian political consulting work and unrelated to the Trump campaign.

The question remains what information Manafort, 69, is able to provide about the President, as well as whether the Trump election effort co-ordinated with Russia.

Manafort’s leadership of the campaign at a time when prosecutors say Russian intelligence was working to sway the election may make him an especially insightful witness.

“The expectations around Manafort’s co-operation are likely at a level beyond anyone else to date who has agreed to co-operate,” said Jacob Frenkel, a Washington lawyer not involved in the case. “Whether those expectations will be met is the great unknown.”