The Daily Populous

Special counsel Robert Mueller asked a federal judge to deny Paul Manafort's request to release him from house arrest, pointing to a draft of an op-ed the former Trump campaign manager ghostwrote with an associate tied to Russian intelligence, according to court filings.

Manafort and the unidentified colleague, who prosecutors said is based in Russia, began drafting the op-ed as late as late week.

Manafort has been under house arrest since being charged with money laundering and tax fraud last month, restricting his ability to travel from his Virginia residence with very few exceptions.

Mueller's appeal to the judge comes after Politico reported last week that his house arrest could be lifted under the agreement following an $11 million bail deal reached with Mueller's team of prosecutors.

A third former Trump campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, also pleaded guilty to charges of lying to FBI agents in the investigation.

Mueller and his team are broadly investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, including whether Trump campaign aides colluded with the Kremlin.

Mueller, on Friday, brought charges against Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators about his contacts with top Kremlin officials. »