Mueller to release new details on ex-Trump aides Manafort, Cohen

Trump says Michael Cohen is lying about Moscow project and they they 'did not do it' 11:13 AM ET Thu, 29 Nov 2018 | 04:46

In a separate case Friday, the special counsel's team is expected to explain why it accused former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort of imploding his plea deal by lying to investigators.

The filings follow a series of seismic developments in Mueller's probe of Russia's interference in the election, potential obstruction of justice and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. The new activity also comes as Trump appears to be cranking up the frequency and intensity of his attacks on the investigation, which he has often decried as a "phony witch hunt."

Manafort, 69, was convicted in federal court in Virginia in August on eight criminal counts brought by Mueller that were mostly related to his work for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine. He struck a plea agreement with the special counsel in September, on the eve of a second criminal trial, in Washington.

That agreement required Manafort to "cooperate fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly" with investigators. But Mueller scrapped the deal in late November, alleging that Manafort lied to federal investigators "on a variety of subject matters" after he signed the deal.

Mueller did not elaborate in that court filing about what falsehoods Manafort allegedly told investigators. In D.C. district court last week, prosecutors told Judge Amy Berman Jackson that they had not yet decided whether to lodge more charges against Manafort.

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