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Decision at link. A federal court judge on Wednesday threw out Paul Manafort's plea agreement. According to the judge, when Manafort entered the agreement, he said he would "cooperate fully, truthfully, completely and forthrightly with the government," but he broke that agreement when he lied to special counselor Robert Mueller. Judge Amy Berman Jackson said that Manafort "intentionally made multiple false statements to the FBI, the OSC [office of the special counsel] and the grand jury concerning matters that were material to the investigation." Here's the full court decision:

Robert Mueller seems to have built in safeguards to discourage the president from pardoning Manafort. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s plea agreement with Paul Manafort on Friday took unusual and possibly unprecedented steps to undercut President Donald Trump’s ability to pardon his former campaign chairman. The plea deal Mueller struck with Manafort contains several provisions that appear intended to discourage the former Trump aide from seeking a pardon and to rein in the impact of any pardon Trump might grant.

Two Systems: As news reports noted Friday, a former campaign manager for POTUS Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, has pleaded guilty to failing to register as a foreign agent for Ukraine when he was doing some lobbying work on that country’s behalf. Manafort decided to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe rather than face another trial and the prospect of several dozen more years behind bars following his first trial in which he was found guilty on a number of financial crimes. But now that Manafort has pleaded, doesn’t Mueller now have to indict someone who had connections to Hillary...

1. PAUL J. MANAFORT, JR. (MANAFORT) served for years as a political consultant and lobbyist. Between at least 2006 and 2015, MANAFORT conspired with Richard W. Gates (Gates),Konstantin Kilimnik (Kilimnik), and others to act, and acted, as unregistered agents of a foreign government and political party. Specifically, MANAFORT conspired to act and acted as an agent of the Government of Ukraine, the Party of Regions (a Ukrainian political party whose leader Victor Yanukovych was President from 2010 to 2014), President Yanukovych, and the Opposition Bloc (a successor to the Party of Regions that formed in 2014 when Yanukovych fled to...

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has agreed to cooperate “fully and truthfully” with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, Judge Amy Berman Jackson said in federal court on Friday. Jackson said this would include submitting to interviews with the special counsel and providing documents related to the probe. Manafort pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against the United States and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice by witness tampering on Friday. He agreed to forfeit several properties and bank accounts, including his property at Trump Tower in New York, as part of his deal. Manafort's decision to cooperate...

WASHINGTON — Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, agreed on Friday to cooperate with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, as part of a deal in which he pleaded guilty to reduced charges. Appearing in United States District Court in Washington, Mr. Manafort entered guilty pleas on two charges. Andrew Weissmann, the lead prosecutor, told Judge Amy Berman Jackson that there was a cooperation agreement with Mr. Manafort.

Paul Manafort reached a deal to plead guilty to two criminal charges Friday, according to court documents, a move that heads off a second criminal trial for the former Trump campaign chairman. Mr. Manafort, who becomes the fifth associate of President Trump to plead guilty in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, is expected to admit to conspiracy against the U.S. and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He already was convicted last month by a federal jury in Virginia of not reporting to tax authorities more than $16 million he earned for political consulting work in Ukraine in the early...

Paul Manafort reached a deal to plead guilty to two criminal charges Friday, according to court documents, a move that heads off a second criminal trial for the former Trump campaign chairman. Mr. Manafort, who becomes the fifth associate of President Trump to plead guilty in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, is expected to admit to conspiracy against the U.S. and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He already was convicted last month by a federal jury in Virginia of not reporting to tax authorities more than $16 million he earned for political consulting work in Ukraine in the early...

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has tentatively agreed to a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller that will head off his upcoming trial, sources familiar with the negotiations tell ABC News. The deal is expected to be announced in court Friday, but it remains unclear whether Manafort has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors or is simply conceding to a guilty plea, which would allow him to avoid the stress and expense of trial, according to three sources with knowledge of the discussions. Manafort and his most senior defense attorneys spent more than four hours Thursday in discussions with...

Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort has reached a "tentative" plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller, ABC News reported Thursday. The deal is expected to be announced in a court hearing on Friday. It was previously reported that Manafort was seeking a plea deal that would keep him from having to cooperate with prosecutors. A plea deal would allow Manafort to avoid his upcoming trial in Washington, D.C. Manafort was convicted on multiple criminal financial charges last month in a separate trial in Virginia. DEVELOPING