Special counsel Robert Mueller said Friday that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied about five major issues after agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors, including his “contact with administration officials.”
The special counsel believes Manafort also lied about a wire transfer made to a firm he had hired and “information pertinent to another Department of Justice investigation.”
The accusations by Mueller add to growing signs that the special counsel’s team has a wealth of evidence about contacts between people close to Trump and Russians during the 2016 campaign.
The document also contains the stunning disclosure that Mueller can show, including with text messages, that Manafort was in contact with Trump administration officials early this year — even after he was indicted in late 2017.
The new and damaging information for the White House comes at a time when every move by Mueller appears to bring his investigation deeper into the White House and Trump’s inner circle, and shows it has expanded well beyond what may or may not have happened in the 2016 campaign.
Mueller last week accused Manafort of lying during his interviews, saying that his actions during his cooperation were criminal and breached his plea agreement.
The filing is the first time prosecutors have summarized why and how they believe Manafort breached his plea agreement. Previously, Mueller simply told a federal judge Manafort “committed federal crimes by lying” to the FBI and special counsel’s office during his cooperation interviews “on a variety of subject matters.”
Manafort says he has been truthful over several meetings with the special counsel’s office. His lawyers indicated last week that they may challenge the assertion that he lied.
Manafort’s alleged lies
Mueller’s team outlined how they believe Manafort lied “in multiple ways and on multiple occasions.”
Manafort lied to the special counsel’s office on contact with the administration this year, the document alleged.
He told a person via text message to talk to a Trump administration official in May, and separately he was in touch with the administration through February 2018, according to the document.
