Washington, D.C.
Manafort troubles: Prosecutors working for special counsel Robert Mueller accused former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort this week of witness tampering in his federal tax and money-laundering case. Manafort allegedly tried to contact two witnesses by phone, through an intermediary, and through encrypted messages on WhatsApp, violating the terms of his release. Manafort is under house arrest on a $10 million bond. Prosecutors have now asked a federal judge to send him to jail while he awaits trial, which could increase pressure on him to cooperate with the special counsel’s investigation. The witnesses worked for a public relations firm involved in Manafort’s lobbying efforts on behalf of a pro-Russia party in Ukraine. They provided texts to the FBI showing that Manafort urged them to tell investigators that their lobbying work was limited to the European Union, even though they worked with Manafort in the U.S. Manafort has been charged with failing to disclose his foreign lobbying in the U.S., as well as bank fraud and other financial crimes.