CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 17: Paul Manafort, Campaign Manager for Donald Trump, speaks on the phone while touring the floor of the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena as final preparations continue July 17, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Republican National Convention begins July 18. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Robert Mueller on Friday filed new obstruction of justice charges against President Donald Trump‘s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his longtime associate.
The special counsel dealt charges to Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik, Manafort’s right-hand man whom prosecutors suspect of being linked to Russian intelligence organizations.
In the Russia probe, Manafort — who was discovered to have worked for pro-Russia parties in Ukraine — has thus far been charged with illicit foreign lobbying, money laundering, and lying to federal investigators. Most recently, Mueller accused Manafort of tampering with two potential witnesses against him.
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According to the New York Times, the new charges against the pair reportedly pertain to an attempt by Manafort and Kilimnik to convince well-known European politicians to “vouch publicly” for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was a pro-Russia client of Manafort’s.
Court documents reveal that Kilimnik, 48, and Manafort coordinated meetings for these politicians in the United States and in other countries as well. Manafort reportedly gave $2.4 million from offshore bank accounts to this cluster of Europeans, known as the “Hapsburg group.”
Kilimnik and Manafort allegedly told the group of men that they should make clear to investigators that their campaign activities would only be carried out in Europe, and not at any point in the United States.
According to some reports, Kilimnik started working with Manafort in 2005 for Yanukovych and other members of the former Ukrainian president’s political party and base.
Manafort has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him thus far. The latest charges against him are not related to his work as Trump’s campaign chairman in 2016. He is awaiting trial in federal court in Washington, D.C. and Virginia. Former Trump adviser Rick Gates, Manafort’s co-defendant, pleaded guilty in the Russia probe in February and is now cooperating with prosecutors.
Kilimnik has not responded to the allegations against him but has denied having ties to Russian intelligence agencies.
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