unexpected Turn in the investigation of the plot Russian. The special prosecutor, Robert Mueller accuses Paul Manafort, the former chief of campaign of Donald Trump, to lie to investigators, according to a court document recorded in the late hours of Monday. The defense of the veteran turned lobbyist denies it, but in practice the prosecution assumes the rupture of the cooperation agreement between Mueller and Manafort. The first loses a key witness in their investigations into the environment of Trump, while the second risks a conviction much greater prison sentence for his alleged crimes as a political consultant.
Manafort, 69, was convicted in September of crimes of conspiracy against the united States and of obstruction of justice for its business consultant in Ukraine prior to working for Trump. That statement required him to cooperate “fully and truthfully” with Mueller, who won access to a key player in their investigations to determine whether the campaign of republican could be coordinated with the interference of russia in the presidential elections of 2016.
however, the exasesor of former presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan would not have fulfilled his word, according to Mueller. “After signing the plea agreement, Manafort committed federal crimes by lying to the FBI and to the office of the special prosecutor on a variety of issues, which constitute violations of the agreement”, argues the Restbet special prosecutor in the court and moves that the details will be revealed in the next few days. In contrast, the lawyers of Manafort ensure that “provided truthful information” to investigators.
After the break, the cooperation agreement, the federal judge Amy Berman Jackson will be the one that will determine the future of the judicial process. Manafort, who is incarcerated, was sentenced in August to between seven and ten years of imprisonment for eight offences of tax evasion and bank fraud. In pleading guilty, he avoided the start of a second trial related to its tasks as a consultant, but now you can face new prison sentences.
Of the thirty indicted by the special prosecutor, Manafort is the one that has the closer ties between the environment Trump and Moscow. In his five months as head of the campaign of Trump, including the republican convention in which it was nominated, Manafort was in contact with several oligarchs close to the Kremlin. And participated in the mysterious meeting of June 2016, to five months of the elections, they remained members of the campaign of the republican with a lawyer at Russian that I had offered material compromising over their opponent, election, Hillary Clinton.
The alleged lies of Manafort pose a complication to the research of Mueller, which is already in a delicate moment, after Trump forced the resignation of Jeff Sessions as head of the Department of Justice. The supervision of the research now falls on Matt Whitaker, the attorney-general acting, that has in the past been shown to be very close to Trump and, as the president, accuses Mueller of conducting a “witch hunt”.