Manafort made a deal with the Trump case investigation: what does it mean

Former head of the election campaign of Trump political consultant Paul Manafort began negotiations with the office of Special Prosecutor Robert Muller to admit his guilt in order to avoid a second trial, writes Air force.

Manafort after arrest. Photo: YouTube / MSNBC

The deal and its terms are scheduled to be announced on Friday, September 14, in court.

Special Prosecutor Muller brought charges against Manafort in two criminal cases (the lawyers of the political consultant did not use the right to unite them into a single proceeding). The first was considered at the place of residence of Manafort in Alexandria (Virginia) and ended in August with a guilty verdict. The second will be heard in Washington, with only the first meetings scheduled for next week.

In this second case, the political strategist is accused of conspiracy against the United States, laundering more than $30 million, making false statements, as well as failure to comply with laws on the disclosure of information on lobbying the interests of Ukraine and working as an unregistered foreign agent of the Party of Regions and ex-President Viktor Yanukovych .

It is unclear whether Manafort will fully cooperate with the investigation and provide the special prosecutor with new information of interest to him, or will only agree to the charges brought against him of illegal lobbying and money laundering in a matter of days before the trial: jury selection is scheduled for September 17, the start of the first hearings on the merits - September 24.

According to ABC, Manafort and his lawyers spent more than four hours in negotiations with prosecutors. Office of Special Prosecutor Muller and representatives of the defense of Manafort declined to comment on the Air Force for this information.

In the United States, a plea bargain often provides that investigators receive information from the defendant. At the same time, investigators may give the accused the right to admit his guilt on certain charges and not disclose the details.

The charges against Manafort were launched as part of an investigation into Russian interference with the US 2016 election campaign of the year and a possible agreement between Trump's entourage and Russia.

Manafort participated in the most famous episode of Trump's entourage contacts with people representing the interests of the Russian state: in June 2016, he attended a meeting between Russian lobbyists and lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya with representatives of Trump's staff, including his son, Donald Trump Jr. and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Trump himself has repeatedly stated that he learned about this event after the fact and, according to his information, the main topic of the meeting was “the adoption of Russian children.”

Photo: twitter.com/realDonaldTrump

In correspondence between Donald Trump Jr. and the intermediary who organized the meeting, released in 2017, he wrote that Veselnitskaya was bringing “dirt on Hillary” as part of the Russian state’s assistance to Trump.

Donald Trump's attorney, Rudi Giuliani, had previously told Politico that the president is not concerned that Manafort could admit his guilt. According to him, the team of advocates of the political technologist and Trump's lawyers are in constant contact, they also concluded a protection agreement that provides for the exchange of confidential information between the parties.

“We want him to do right by himself. We have absolutely no fear that Manafort will testify against the president because he has nothing to testify about and we have long considered him a worthy person,” Giuliani said.

The first case of Manafort

Earlier, a jury in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, found Manafort guilty in eight of the 18 counts of the indictment in another case.

Manafort was found guilty of two of nine points in banking fraud, all five counts of tax evasion and one of four points of evasion of declaring foreign accounts.

In this case, he first appeared in court at the end of October 2017, and was under house arrest until June 2018, after which he was imprisoned when he became aware of his attempts to influence witnesses.

What Manafort was accused of

• Inaccurate tax returns - five episodes. Maximum term: 3 years for each episode.
• Concealment of foreign bank accounts - four episodes. Maximum term: 5 years for each episode.
• Fraud with loans in Citizens Bank - three episodes. Maximum sentence: 30 years for each episode.
• Banc of California Credits - two episodes. Maximum sentence: 30 years for each episode.
• Fraud with loans in the Federal Savings Bank - four episodes. Maximum term: 30 years for each episode.

Prosecutors alleged that Manafort failed to pay taxes on at least $15 million in income. Half of the charges against Manafort related to bank fraud - on each count he faced up to 30 years in prison.

The defense refused to call witnesses. Manafort himself also refused to testify, insisting on his own innocence.

US President Donald Trump said Manafort's verdict is part of a "witch hunt" that began after the 2016 presidential election.

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