Paul Manafort has agreed to cooperate as a potential witness with special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe as part of a plea deal, a prosecutor said Friday.
Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said at a plea hearing in Washington that President Tump’s former campaign manager has agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s team, which is probing whether the Trump campaign collaborated with Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election, media reported from inside the courtroom.
Speculation had swirled before the hearing about whether a possible guilty plea by Manafort would include a promise to actively assist the investigation in exchange for leniency.
“This is a huge moment for Mueller,” Gene Rossi, a former federal prosecutor, told VICE News.
Mueller’s team announced they would reduce the charges against Manafort from seven down to two. Shortly thereafter, Manafort, 69, pleaded guilty to two charges in a Washington, D.C., court on Friday: conspiracy against the U.S., and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Paul Manafort has agreed to cooperate as a potential witness with special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe as part of a plea deal, a prosecutor said Friday.
Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said at a plea hearing in Washington that President Tump’s former campaign manager has agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s team, which is probing whether the Trump campaign collaborated with Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election, media reported from inside the courtroom.
Speculation had swirled before the hearing about whether a possible guilty plea by Manafort would include a promise to actively assist the investigation in exchange for leniency.
“This is a huge moment for Mueller,” Gene Rossi, a former federal prosecutor, told VICE News.
Mueller’s team announced they would reduce the charges against Manafort from seven down to two. Shortly thereafter, Manafort, 69, pleaded guilty to two charges in a Washington, D.C., court on Friday: conspiracy against the U.S., and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
“This is potentially devastating for Trump and other members of his campaign.”
“This had absolutely nothing to do with the president or his victorious 2016 presidential campaign,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in reaction to the announcement. “It is totally unrelated.”
Read: Paul Manafort just cut a deal with Mueller and will plead guilty
But that’s not how legal experts see it. While details of the cooperation agreement had yet to be revealed as of midday on Friday, legal observers said the agreement will likely be broad-ranging in scope and not limited to Manafort’s own misdeeds.
“This is potentially devastating for Trump and other members of his campaign,” said Mimi Rocah, a former federal prosecutor.
“Manafort will almost certainly have to cooperate about everything and everyone,” she said. “They would not sign him up to cooperate against just himself.”
Manafort’s defenders have long argued that he would never agree to cooperate against the president. In an interview published Thursday, President Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said the White House has nothing to fear from a possible guilty plea by Manafort.
Independent legal observers disagreed, saying the White House has every reason to be concerned about Manafort’s cooperation.
“The clear inference here is that they’re signing him up to get people who were involved the campaign, in which Manafort played a key role,” Rocah said. “That’s clearly the way this is headed.”
Read: George Papadopoulos had a meltdown on Twitter before checking into prison
Manafort had already been found guilty on eight counts of bank and tax fraud in an earlier trial in Alexandria, Virginia. In Washington, he had initially faced a second round of charges for allegedly failing to register as an agent of a foreign government, making false statements, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to launder money.
But a new superseding indictment announced Friday morning lumped those claims together under the reduced charges while listing many of the same detailed allegations, plus some new ones.
The 38-page indictment says Manafort laundered more than $30 million and “cheated the United States out of over $15 million in taxes” while working as an adviser to the former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych.
According to court documents, Manafort, by pleading guilty, has agreed to forfeit four homes and multiple bank accounts.
Upon exiting the courtroom, Manafort’s lawyer, Kevin Downing, told reporters that Manafort’s decision had been influenced by concern for his family.
“He wanted to make sure that his family was able to remain safe and live a good life,” Downing said. “He’s accepted responsibility, and this is for conduct that dates back many years, and everyone should remember that.”
“Tough day for Mr. Manafort,” Downing said.
Cover image: Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort departs from U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., February 28, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
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