Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators, a federal court judge has ruled.
Manafort’s deceptions leave him in breach of the cooperation deal he struck with prosecutors, and could add years to his prison sentence.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Prosecutors from Mueller’s office said Manafort’s lies about his contact with Kilimnik go “very much to the heart of what the special counsel’s office is investigating”.
The Washington Post reports that Manafort also made “false statements that were material to another Justice Department investigation whose focus has not been described in public filings in Manafort’s case”.
Manafort will still be bound by what he agreed to as part of the plea deal he made with prosecutors. However Mueller’s office would be “free from its contractual obligations in the plea, like asking for a reduced sentence for him because of his cooperation”, says CNN.
Manafort is facing up to ten years in prison over two separate cases, which include his guilty plea in September 2018 on charges of conspiring to defraud the United States, violating lobbying laws and obstructing justice by witness tampering.
Judge Jackson said she is now considering whether Manafort will be eligible to serve both sentences consecutively, meaning the former Trump campaign chief, who is 69 years old, could face up to 20 years in prison.
-
How Tesla has put Elon Musk on track to be the world’s first trillionaireIn The Spotlight The package agreed by the Tesla board outlines several key milestones over a 10-year period
-
Cop30: is the UN climate summit over before it begins?Today’s Big Question Trump administration will not send any high-level representatives, while most nations failed to submit updated plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions
-
‘The Big Crunch’: why science is divided over the future of the universeThe Explainer New study upends the prevailing theory about dark matter and says it is weakening
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Ukraine: Donald Trump pivots againIn the Spotlight US president apparently warned Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept Vladimir Putin’s terms or face destruction during fractious face-to-face
-
The UK-made Storm Shadow missiles Ukraine is using in RussiaThe Explainer Ukraine reportedly deployed the long-range British missiles this week, following a tense meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump
-
Proposed Trump-Putin talks in Budapest on holdSpeed Read Trump apparently has no concrete plans to meet with Putin for Ukraine peace talks
-
What is Donald Trump planning in Latin America?Today’s Big Question US ramps up feud with Colombia over drug trade, while deploying military in the Caribbean to attack ships and increase tensions with Venezuela
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
-
Remaking the military: Pete Hegseth’s war on diversity and ‘fat generals’Talking Point The US Secretary of War addressed military members on ‘warrior ethos’
