Mueller ended plea agreement because Manafort allegedly lied about business dealings: report

Paul Manafort allegedly lied about his personal business dealings and contacts with former associates in Ukraine to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

People familiar with the matter reportedly told the Journal that such statements are among the reasons that Mueller this week ended Manafort’s plea agreement over two months after it was reached.

{mosads}Manafort allegedly misrepresented information about payments he received related to his lobbying work, the people familiar with the matter said.

Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign manager, was accused Monday by the government of breaching his plea deal. According to court filings, they allege that he “committed federal crimes by lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Special Counsel’s Office on a variety of subject matters, which constitute breaches of the agreement.”

His defense attorneys denied the allegation, saying Manafort believes he has provided truthful information and does not agree with the government’s characterization of his statements as lies.

Over the summer, a jury in Northern Virginia convicted Manafort of eight counts of bank and tax fraud.

In order to avoid a second trial scheduled to be in Washington, D.C., Manafort agreed to plead guilty to two felony charges related to his foreign lobbying and cooperate with the special counsel’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and any possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

On Wednesday, Manafort waived his right to appear personally in court on Friday for a hearing set after his lawyers and Mueller said they were ready for sentencing.

Manafort’s decision to waive his right to appear in court comes after two bombshell reports this week.

The Guardian reported that Manafort met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange around the time he joined the Trump campaign. WikiLeaks is responsible for leaking emails from the Democratic National Committee that were hacked by the Russians. Manafort and WikiLeaks deny the meetings.

The New York Times also reported that Manafort’s attorney has been briefing Trump’s attorneys on his discussions with the special counsel’s office.