Paul Manafort repeatedly lied to investigators even after agreeing to cooperate with the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, the special counsel Robert Mueller said late on Monday.
Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, breached a plea agreement he signed in September by “lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the special counsel’s office on a variety of subject matters”, Mueller said in a court filing.
Mueller did not specify what Manafort lied about, but said the lies amounted to new crimes. Investigators are no longer bound by their side of the deal, which included a reduced sentence for crimes Manafort previously admitted, Mueller said.
Manafort, 69, denied Mueller’s new allegations. “He believes he has provided truthful information and does not agree with the government’s characterization or that he has breached the agreement,” Monday’s court filing said.
Both sides agreed that in light of the cooperation agreement’s collapse, judge Amy Berman Jackson of the federal court in Washington DC should proceed with sentencing Manafort, who could now face more than a decade in prison.
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