Documents filed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Monday say that last week, President Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was found to be working on an op-ed with a Russian colleague with ties to a Russian intelligence service.
Manafort was a ghostwriter on the op-ed, which detailed his work with Ukrainian politicians, and it's not clear where he wanted it published. The special counsel's brief said by drafting this op-ed, Manafort showed he was ready to "violate or circumvent" the court's order banning statements to the press. "The editorial clearly was undertaken to influence the public's opinion of Manafort, or else there would be no reason to seek its publication (much less for Manafort and his long-time associate to ghostwrite it in another's name)," the special counsel wrote. "It compounds the problem that the proposed piece is not a dispassionate recitation of the facts."
Manafort was indicted in November for failing to register as a foreign agent and money laundering, and he has been viewed as a flight risk because of his wealth, extensive foreign contacts, and three passports. Mueller's office opposes Manafort's bail package, which still needs to be approved by a judge.
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