DragonI

Manafort kept working in Ukraine after Mueller indictment, transcript shows

A prosecutor also said he believed Manafort had told one lie to "at least augment his chances for a pardon."

www.nbcnews.com

1. Lie to get a pardon from Trump 
2. Continue being treasonous knowing in his mind, he’d be pardoned again
3. Nothing wrong with working with his former business partner and former Russian GRU intelligence officer Konstantin Kilimnik *** “Collusion is not a crime.”, Rudy Giuliani

A newly released transcript reveals that former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort continued working for a political client in Ukraine into 2018, after he had already been indicted in Robert Mueller's probe — and that prosecutors think Manafort may have told one lie to up his chances of a pardon.

During a sealed hearing Monday, which was held to discuss Manafort's alleged lies to the special counsel, prosecutor Andrew Weissman referred to "2018 work that he did with respect to polling in Ukraine," according to the redacted transcript.

The redacted transcript of the hearing released Thursday, which describes some of the alleged lies, is 143 pages long.

The transcript indicates that Manafort lied about interactions with former colleague Gates in regard to what a prosecutor called "an extremely sensitive matter," the nature of which is redacted.

The prosecutor told Judge Amy Berman Jackson that Manafort lied about what he had told Gates, and said Manafort lied because telling the truth would "have I think, negative consequences in terms of the other motive that Mr. Manafort could have, which is to at least augment his chances for a pardon." Only the president can pardon someone convicted of a federal crime.

"This goes, I think, very much to the heart of what the special counsel's office is investigating. And in 2016. there is an in-person meeting with someone who the government has certainly proffered to this court in the past, is understood by the FBI, assessed to be — have a relationship with Russian intelligence, that there is REDACTED. And there is an in-person meeting at an unusual time for somebody who is the campaign chairman to be spending time, and to be doing it in person," Weissman said.

Prosecutors say longtime Manafort colleague has ‘ties’ to Russian intelligence

The allegation marks the first assertion by the special counsel that a Trump campaign official had contacts with someone linked to Russia’s spy services.

www.washingtonpost.com|https://www.facebook.com/PostRoz

In the four-page filing Monday, prosecutor Andrew Weissman urged the judge to reject the bail deal, arguing that Manafort and a Russian colleague have been secretly ghostwriting an English-language editorial that appeared to defend Manafort’s work advising a ­Russia-friendly political party in Ukraine.

They said Manafort worked on the draft as recently as last week with “a long-time Russian colleague . . . who is currently based in Russia and assessed to have ties to a Russian intelligence service.” They indicated they would file further supporting evidence under seal.

• Ran Manafort’s office in Kiev during the 10 years he did consulting work there.
• Attended a Russian military foreign language university in the late 1980s that experts have said was a training ground for Russian intelligence services
• Served as an officer in the Russian military for several years
• Manafort and Kilimnik worked with then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (Putin Puppet)

Manafort and Kilimnik were in contact during the months that Manafort ran Trump’s campaign. They met twice in person, in May 2016 and then again in August 2016, when their dinner conversation at New York’s Grand Havana Room included discussion of the presidential campaign, Kilimnik told The Post this June.

Kilimnik also served as Manafort’s liaison to Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate and ally to Russian President Vladi­mir Putin who employed Manafort as an investment consultant.

First charges filed in Mueller investigation

A federal grand jury in Washington on Friday approved the first charges in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller, according to sources briefed on the matter.

www.cnn.com|Pamela Brown, Evan Perez and Shimon Prokupecz, CNN

The charges are still sealed under orders from a federal judge. Plans were prepared Friday for anyone charged to be taken into custody as soon as Monday, the sources said. It is unclear what the charges are.

Under the regulations governing special counsel investigations, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has oversight over the Russia investigation, would have been made aware of any charges before they were taken before the grand jury for approval, according to people familiar with the matter.

On Friday, top lawyers who are helping to lead the Mueller probe, including veteran prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, were seen entering the court room at the DC federal court where the grand jury meets to hear testimony in the Russia investigation.