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Manafort accused of witness tampering
Trump’s former campaign chairman hit with new counts of obstruction.
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller ramped up the pressure on Paul Manafort on Friday, releasing a new indictment accusing President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman of obstructing justice and conspiring to obstruct justice by contacting potential witnesses in his case.
Manafort was already facing two rounds of previous indictments, starting in October, with nearly two dozen charges of financial crimes, including tax evasion and bank fraud related to his lobbying for Ukraine’s former pro-Russian government. He’s pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to face trial in Virginia next month and Washington later this year.
The latest indictment also levies the same obstruction charges against Konstantin Kilimnik, a Manafort business partner who Mueller alleges has ties to Russian intelligence. Kilimnik had not been previously charged.
According to Mueller, Manafort and Kilimnik tried to convince two public relations professionals who had previously worked with them to provide false information about Ukrainian lobbying. Although prosecutors said the advocacy effort included work in the United States — a violation of federal law because it wasn’t disclosed — Manafort and Kilimnik allegedly wanted the men to say the work only took place in Europe.
Mueller first detailed the witness tampering allegations in a court filing Monday in which he asked a judge to reconsider whether Manafort should be allowed to remain free while awaiting trial. If the judge agrees with Mueller that Manafort violated the terms of his release, he could be sent to jail until his trial concludes.
“Mr. Manafort is innocent and nothing about this latest allegation changes our defense,” Jason Maloni, a spokesman for Manafort, said Tuesday. Manafort’s legal team was expected to respond to the witness tampering allegation in a new court filing Friday, and a hearing has been scheduled for next week.
Manafort has not been charged with any crimes related to the Trump campaign or Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
But the latest indictment is a reminder that he’s facing an avalanche of accusations that could send the 69-year-old to prison for the rest of his life.
Renato Mariotti, who worked for nine years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago before entering private practice and has been writing about the case, noted that Mueller’s prosecutors have extensively documented the charges against Manafort and appear to have built a powerful case.
Unless Manafort is expecting a pardon from Trump, “he should be pleading guilty, now,” Mariotti said.
Alex Whiting, a Harvard Law School professor and former federal prosecutor, said Mueller is trying to show Manafort his situation is hopeless.
“There is no over-charging, no nefarious strategy,” he said.
Prosecutors said Manafort and Kilimnik began their witness tampering attempts after Richard Gates, another former business partner and Trump campaign aide, pleaded guilty in February to charges of conspiracy and lying to federal agents.
As part of his plea deal, Gates is cooperating with the special counsel investigation.
Manafort and Kilimnik “repeatedly contacted” their former colleagues “in an effort to secure materially false testimony concerning the activities of the Hapsburg group,” a collection of former European politicians helping promote Ukrainian interests, according to Monday’s court filing.