By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
President Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort has some big problems.
Robert Mueller’s team is accusing Manafort of continuing to minimize the conduct of an associate with alleged ties to Russian intelligence, even after he agreed last year to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors, according to a newly released court transcript, reports Josh Gerstein of Politico, who goes on to write:
The partially redacted transcript, of a lengthy hearing that took place behind closed doors on Monday, shows that Mueller’s team contended that when Manafort was debriefed by prosecutors and FBI agents, he seemed to be trying to avoid providing information that could be damaging to Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian-Ukrainian national who was deeply involved in Manafort’s political consulting work in Ukraine.
“I think Mr. Manafort went out of his way in this instance … to not want to provide any evidence that could be used with respect to Mr. Kilimnik,” deputy special counsel Andrew Weissmann told U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson during the court session, which spanned more than four hours, including a lunch break.
