Paul Manafort ‘lied to the FBI’ despite plea bargain

Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has repeatedly lied to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, Mueller’s team has claimed in court.

Manafort’s alleged lies come despite a plea bargain he signed with the Mueller investigation in September, and “amount to new crimes”, according to The Guardian, meaning that investigators are no longer bound by their side of the deal.

Manafort has signalled that he disagrees with the prosecutor’s description of him being untruthful, however both the defence and the prosecution in his case have signed a document asking the judge in his case to move toward sentencing.

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“He (Manafort) believes he has provided truthful information and does not agree with the government’s characterisation or that he has breached the agreement,” the document filed in court says.

The push from both sides for judge Amy Berman Jackson of the federal court in Washington DC to begin the sentencing process could see Manafort jailed for more than 10 years.

CNN reports that the special counsel’s office will “provide more details at a later date”, adding that the court filing was an “astonishing break from the bare-bones updates given by the special counsel's office in other co-operators’ cases”.

Manafort, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and witness tampering on 14 September, has since met Mueller’s investigators at least nine times.

He also admitted to a string of money laundering and foreign lobbying crimes as part of his agreement with Mueller’s investigation.

Trump defended Manafort on Twitter, claiming that Mueller’s final report will include him “covering all of his conflicts of interest in a preamble”, and stating that “There was NO Collusion & Mueller knows it!”.