Filing: Manafort meeting at heart of Russia probe
WASHINGTON — An August 2016 meeting between President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman and an associate with ties to Russian intelligence goes to the “heart” of the Russia investigation, according to a court transcript unsealed Thursday.
The transcript from a sealed hearing in Paul Manafort’s case provides further insight into what special counsel Robert Mueller considers significant in his wide-ranging probe of the Kremlin’s efforts to sway the 2016 presidential election and the ties between Trump associates and Russia. It makes clear that prosecutors have homed in on the repeated contacts between Manafort and his longtime associate, Konstantin Kilimnik, who the FBI says has ties to Russia’s military intelligence agency.
Still, it’s unclear what specifically has piqued prosecutors’ interests and whether it is connected to any election interference conspiracy. The transcript of the hearing, which took place Monday, was released by court order Thursday, but much of it was redacted to protect the ongoing investigation, including several key portions about Manafort and Kilimnik.
Previously, Manafort’s attorneys accidentally revealed that among the topics discussed by Manafort and Kilimnik during the election was a possible peace plan to resolve the Russia-ukraine conflict in Crimea. They also disclosed that Manafort had shared polling data on the
Trump campaign with Kilimnik.