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Plea Deal Expected in Paul Manafort Case as Prosecutors Drop Some Charges Paul Manafort to Plead Guilty to Reduced Charges in Deal with Prosecutors
(35 minutes later)
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors on Friday dropped five of seven charges pending against Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, in a step toward a plea agreement expected to be finalized within hours. WASHINGTON — Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, has agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges as part of a deal with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, according to a document filed with the court on Friday.
In documents filed with the United States District Court in Washington, prosecutors from the office of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, charged Mr. Manafort with one count of conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. The prosecutors dropped five other charges encompassing money laundering and violations of a lobbying disclosure law. Prosecutors in the case dropped five of seven charges pending against Mr. Manafort, and the details of the plea agreement were to be laid out publicly in federal court in Washington within hours.
A pretrial hearing was scheduled for later in the day at which further details of the deal could be laid out for Judge Amy Berman Jackson. It is not clear whether Mr. Manafort will cooperate with Mr. Mueller’s team in its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and related questions about possible collusion by the Trump campaign and obstruction of justice by Mr. Trump. It is not clear whether Mr. Manafort will cooperate with Mr. Mueller’s team in its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and related questions about possible collusion by the Trump campaign and obstruction of justice by Mr. Trump.
As part of the deal, the government will seize four of Mr. Manafort’s homes as well as the money in a number of bank accounts, the documents say.
In documents filed with the United States District Court in Washington, prosecutors from Mr. Mueller’s office charged Mr. Manafort with one count of conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. The prosecutors dropped five other charges encompassing money laundering and violations of a lobbying disclosure law.
Mr. Manafort was scheduled to be arraigned and to agree formally to the plea deal later Friday morning before Judge Amy Berman Jackson.
Mr. Manafort was convicted last month on bank and tax fraud charges after a trial in federal court in Alexandria, Va. He was scheduled to face a second trial on seven separate but related charges in Washington starting next week. The charges stem from work he did as a political consultant in Ukraine.Mr. Manafort was convicted last month on bank and tax fraud charges after a trial in federal court in Alexandria, Va. He was scheduled to face a second trial on seven separate but related charges in Washington starting next week. The charges stem from work he did as a political consultant in Ukraine.
Any guilty plea would be another unsettling development for Mr. Trump. For months, Mr. Trump has praised Mr. Manafort for fighting the charges. In private discussions with his lawyers, Mr. Trump has raised the possibility of pardoning Mr. Manafort. The plea deal could be another unsettling development for Mr. Trump. For months, Mr. Trump has praised Mr. Manafort for fighting the charges. In private discussions with his lawyers, Mr. Trump has raised the possibility of pardoning Mr. Manafort.
It is not clear what information Mr. Manafort might have that would be valuable to Mr. Mueller’s investigation. Mr. Manafort served in several roles in the Trump campaign, and was present for the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower between a number of campaign officials and a Russian lawyer who was thought to be offering dirt on Hillary Clinton.
So far, four former Trump aides have pleaded guilty to charges related to the special counsel investigation: Michael D. Cohen, the president’s longtime personal lawyer; Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser; Rick Gates, the former deputy campaign chairman; and George Papadopoulos, a former campaign adviser.
The president railed against plea deals in general after Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty last month to breaking campaign finance laws and other charges, implicating Mr. Trump in the cover-up of a potential sex scandal during the 2016 presidential race. Mr. Trump said that trading information on someone else for lesser charges or a lighter sentence “almost ought to be outlawed.”
Mr. Manafort, who has repeatedly insisted that he would not cooperate with the special counsel, has been reassessing his legal risks after last month’s trial. He was found guilty in that case of eight counts of tax fraud, bank fraud and failure to report a foreign bank account, crimes that legal experts predicted were likely to result in a prison term of six to 12 years.