While all Americans are looking forward to a conclusion from the Mueller investigation, it seems to be far from over. On Tuesday, further proof that there’s still a long way to go when the special prosecutor filed heavily redacted documents in the Paul Manafort case. Documents are usually only this heavily redacted when ongoing investigations have not yet been concluded.
Recent revelations show that Mueller is investigating the sharing of insider information with Russian spies during the 2016 presidential campaign.
CNBC reports that:
‘The alleged spy, Konstantin Kilimnik, is a former business associate of Manafort’s who is criminally charged with working with him to try to tamper with potential witnesses against Manafort before his scheduled federal criminal trials last summer.
‘Mueller has previously alleged that Kilimnik has “ties to a Russian intelligence service and had such ties in 2016,” the same year during which Manafort acted as chairman of President Donald Trump’s campaign.’
Mueller Shows His Very Redacted Proof That Manafort Breached Cooperation Agreement by Lying https://t.co/PBFTJOWwt8 pic.twitter.com/eU8frdOPV7
— Law & Crime (@lawcrimenews) January 15, 2019
Mueller also believes that Manafort has also lied about “a third-party asking permission to use Mr. Manafort’s name as an introduction in the event the third-party met the President.” Evidence of that lie was found in the form of a text message, although that line of questioning was not meant for public view.
‘Manafort’s lawyers meant for those accusations by Mueller, and several others, to be sealed from public view. The sections containing the accusations are blacked out in an otherwise public document filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington, D.C.
‘But those sections are easily viewable when the sections are copied in a word processing file, and then pasted into a new document.’
In Paul Manafort's DC case, Mueller's office was due to file materials yesterday supporting its contention that Manafort breached his plea deal by lying. We just got an order from the judge confirming they asked to file under seal, and we'll soon see a redacted version pic.twitter.com/6ylfP6dLu3
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) January 15, 2019
Although Manafort signed an agreement to cooperate with the Mueller investigation in exchange for leniency on sentencing that would have sent him to prison for the rest of his life, he was later determined to have again been lying and may have been working to pass information about the investigation to Trump through attorneys.
‘In agreeing to help Mueller, Manafort was clearly hoping to obtain leniency when he is sentenced in exchange for information he shared with the special counsel’s office. Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, and whether the Trump campaign worked with Russian agents to affect the outcome of the election. Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion.’
IMPORTANT #Mueller: HERE’S (redacted) PROOF #MANAFORT BREACHED | Law & Crime
Mueller has said that Manafort “TOLD MULTIPLE DISCERNIBLE LIES” that “WERE NOT INSTANCES of mere MEMORY LAPSES.”#MOG#MAGA https://t.co/caaSHitOVP
— Michael O'Grady (@mog7546) January 15, 2019
His attempts to cover his tracks before lying to prosecutors appears to have been sloppy and ineffective. The more he denies the actions that undergird a charge of colluding with a hostile foreign government to help Trump get elected, the more proof emerges of his lies.
‘In another redacted section it says that, “After being shown documents, Mr. Manafort ‘conceded’ that he discussed or may have discussed a Ukraine peace plan with Mr. Kilimnik on more than one occasion.”
‘”After being told that Mr. Kilimnik had traveled to Madrid on the same day that Mr. Manafort was in Madrid, Mr. Manafort ‘acknowledged’ that he and Mr. Kilimnik met while they were both in Madrid,” the filing said.’
Say it with me: COLLUSION. https://t.co/hszyvemfgM
— Stephen J. Cloobeck (@sjcloobeck) January 9, 2019
Featured image via Flickr by Mike Licht under a Creative Commons license
