Mueller makes new filing under seal in Manafort-Gates case

Special counsel Robert Mueller has made a new filing under seal in the case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his longtime business partner Richard Gates, according to reports.

The nature of the filing is not publicly known. It could contain new criminal charges or it could be an indication of a coming plea agreement, according to CNN. 

Politico first reported the new filing, which was made at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

The news comes just days after Mueller’s office stated in a court filing last week that the investigative team had discovered evidence of “additional criminal conduct” after the court made its “initial bail determination.”

The prosecutors alleged that Manafort had misrepresented his income on financial statements in order to obtain a multimillion-dollar mortgage on his property in Fairfax, Va.

“That criminal conduct includes a series of bank frauds and bank fraud conspiracies,” the prosecutors wrote in the filing submitted Friday.

“At the next bail hearing, we can proffer to the Court additional evidence related to this and the other bank frauds and conspiracies, which the Court may find relevant to the bail risk posed by Manafort,” they continued.

In October, Mueller indicted Manafort and Gates on a set of charges related to their lobbying work overseas. None of the charges related to Manafort’s time serving on the Trump campaign. Both men have pleaded not guilty.

The judge overseeing the case ruled last year that Manafort, who has been placed on house arrest, can secure bail if he is able to dole out $10 million in assets.

The special counsel’s office declined to comment. A spokesperson for Manafort did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.

Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election as well as whether the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin. Trump has repeatedly slammed the federal probe as a “witch hunt,” maintaining that there was no collusion.

Russia has also repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, which goes against the findings of the U.S. intelligence community that the Kremlin did attempt to meddle in the election.

Mueller on Friday indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian groups, alleging they worked to sow discord in the U.S. and interfere in the election by waging “information warfare.” In 2016, part of the effort shifted to building support for the presidential campaigns of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Trump, according to the court filing.

The eight-count indictment contained explosive allegations that some of the defendants sought to evade detection while masquerading as Americans involved in grass-roots movements within the U.S. As part of that effort, the Russians allegedly made contact with “unwitting” members of the Trump campaign and helped organize rallies. 

Trump fired off a string tweets in reaction to the indictment in which he claimed innocence in the investigation while casting blame elsewhere. 

This indictment did not accuse any American of knowingly participating in illegal activity. It did allude to “co-conspirators” who are not named.

– This story was updated at 3:02 p.m.