Posted on 01/08/2019 1:08:07 PM PST by yesthatjallen
A major court filing error led to secret details of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s criminal case leaking out into the public sphere on Tuesday.
Defense attorneys filed a response contesting special counsel Robert Mueller’s allegations that Manafort lied to federal investigators on a variety of subjects in breach of his plea agreement. But while portions of the filing were supposed to be redacted and shielded from the public, court watchers were able to view the filing in its entirety by copying and pasting the redacted sections.
The error resulted in Manafort's attorneys disclosing that Mueller has accused Manafort of sharing polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, a business associate who is suspected of ties to Russia’s military intelligence unit, the GRU, during the 2016 presidential campaign. The filing also showed that Manafort discussed a “Ukraine peace plan” with Kilimnik, according to his attorneys.
Mueller had previously accused Manafort of lying about his interactions with Kilimnik, a Russian national who used to run the offshoot of Manafort’s consulting business in Ukraine. Kilimnik has been charged alongside Manafort with witness tampering as part of Mueller’s sprawling investigation into Russian interference and is believed to have links to the GRU, the Russian intelligence unit blamed for hacking Democrats' emails in 2016.
In another faultily redacted portion, Manafort’s attorneys revealed that an unnamed third party texted Manafort last May asking to use his name as a point of introduction if the person met with Trump.
Mueller accused Manafort in December of authorizing a third party to communicate on his behalf with an “administration official,” despite him telling investigators he did not recall direct or indirect communications with administration officials. Manafort’s attorneys disputed the characterization that Manafort authorized the unnamed person to communicate with Trump on his behalf, according to the concealed details of the filing.
Manafort’s attorneys and the special counsel's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the filing error. But within an hour, a new, corrected filing was posted on the docket that no longer allowed the public to view the contents of the redacted paragraphs.
Tuesday’s developments are the latest dramatic turn of events in Manafort’s case, more than a year after Mueller first charged him with a series of crimes stemming from his lobbying on behalf of a pro-Russian oligarch and political party in Ukraine.
A jury in Alexandria, Va., convicted Manafort on charges of bank and tax fraud in August, after which he agreed to plead guilty to two separate charges and cooperate with Mueller’s investigation. As such, Manafort averted a second federal trial in D.C.
Manafort was viewed as a valuable witness for Mueller in his investigation into Russian interference in the election until his plea deal broke down in November as a result of the lying accusations.
On Tuesday, Manafort’s attorneys argued that their client did not intentionally mislead government prosecutors, describing his physical and mental well being as severely impacted by his months of confinement in federal prison. Manafort provided “complete and truthful information to the best of his ability,” the lawyers wrote in the 10-page filing.
“He attempted to live up to the requirements of his cooperation agreement and provided meaningful cooperation relating to several key areas under current government investigation,” the attorneys wrote.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson, the federal judge overseeing Manafort’s case in D.C., has ordered Mueller to submit its factual and evidentiary basis of Manafort’s alleged lies by Jan. 14. Manafort’s attorneys have been ordered to reply by Jan. 19.
A hearing has been tentatively scheduled on the matter for Jan. 25 if the judge deems it necessary, though Manafort’s attorneys did not request one in the filing Tuesday.
Polling data HAHAHAHAHA
He gave them polling data? I guess he was on a misinformation campaign.
Oh, and who cares?
but we all know the Russian intelligence was really Hillary’s Minions
It was an NYT, NBC poll, no facts involved.
No, he was accused of it.
Polling data is a nothingburger. Not proved polling data, even less so. lol
LOL — Anything to keep misdirecting “coverage” in the news.
Right! The polling data has been FAR from accurate in recent years. Besides which, was his “....suspected sharing of polling data.....” something as simple as a comment over lunch, that 85% of Dems were polling for HRC?
It would not surprise me.
They still haven’t noticed the polling data was all wrong? Wasn’t Hillary to win by a landslide according to polling data? LOL
he supposedly discussed a peace plan ... that’s a bad thing, right, you know, peace ...
He gave them polling data?
*************************
Many FReepers have given others “polling data” through their posts on FR. Watch out, Mueller’s going to come get you.
Gosh! Polling data! Zzzzzzzzzzz
(((YAWN)))
A court filing error, huh ...
Polling data? THis is a crime to share polling data? HOw much US uranium was lost due to this event?
Mueller and his cabal intentionally allowed this information to get out. It is part of their ongoing PR campaign as their Russian collusion narrative is foundering. Charging the Russian lawyer at the Trump Tower meeting is alsopart of raising the declining profile of the investigation. They must show movement and some Russian connection so the Dems in the House can investigate.
Top Secret or SCI polling data? Turrible.
So obvious that this is suppossed to distract from President Trump’s addresss tonight.
Even if he had, there is nothing sacred about polling data, especially since it obviously overwhelmingly favored Hillary given that she was projected, by almost everyone, to win in a big way. If that is the Russian collusion they think they have, then this is the farce we all knew it to be
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