Image copyright Reuters Image caption A court sketch showed Paul Manafort, seated, with his attorney Richard Westling

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has agreed to co-operate with an investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the US election as part of a plea deal.

In court on Friday, he pleaded guilty to two criminal charges in the deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

The agreement avoids a second trial on money laundering and other charges.

The White House insists the guilty plea has absolutely nothing to do with President Donald Trump.

Manafort was convicted last month on eight counts of fraud, bank fraud and failing to disclose bank accounts.

That was the first criminal trial arising from the justice department's investigation into alleged interference by Russia in the 2016 election.

However, the charges only relate to Manafort's political consulting with pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, largely pre-dating his role with the Trump campaign.

What happened on Friday?

In an appearance at a federal court in Washington DC, Manafort - who is being held in custody - pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy against the US and one charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Correspondents say he faces up to 10 years in prison under the deal and will also forfeit four of his properties and the contents of several bank accounts. Deadlocked charges from the previous trial will be dismissed if there is "successful co-operation" with the special counsel.

A lawyer for Manafort, Kevin Downing, told reporters outside the court that his client "wanted to make sure that his family was able to remain safe and live a good life".

Image copyright EPA Image caption A bystander made his point as defence lawyer Kevin Downing addressed the media

Manafort, 69, worked for Mr Trump's presidential campaign for five months in 2016 and was in charge when Mr Trump clinched the Republican party nomination.

In a statement, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Friday: "This had absolutely nothing to do with the president or his victorious 2016 presidential campaign. It is totally unrelated."

President Trump has branded the Mueller investigation a "witch hunt" and insisted there was no collusion between his team and Russia. The Kremlin has also repeatedly denied any meddling.

The charges in the planned second trial were to include money laundering, conspiring to defraud the US, witness tampering and failing to register as a foreign agent. Jury selection had been due to start on Monday.

What might Manafort reveal?

Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington

Image copyright Reuters

In a year filled with blockbuster Friday news stories, the announcement that Paul Manafort is co-operating with Robert Mueller's investigation is one of the biggest.

Although the White House downplays his importance to the campaign, Mr Manafort had top perch in the Trump team for key months in 2016.

For instance, he was in the June Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and Russian nationals that was originally billed as a chance to obtain damaging information Russia had on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. He took cryptic notes about that meeting that he now might be willing to discuss.

After his August conviction on financial and tax fraud charges in Virginia, the prospect of Mr Manafort's walking away from his legal headaches a free man had been eliminated. It appears that the reality of additional legal expenses and possibly more prison time finally pushed the long-time Washington lobbyist to make a deal. This is probably exactly what the special counsel team had hoped for.

Now the president, who tweeted last month that Mr Manafort was a "brave man" who "refused to break and make up stories in order to get a deal", is left to wonder what comes next.

How did we get here?

Manafort was charged by Mr Mueller last October. At trial, he was accused of using 31 foreign bank accounts in three different countries to evade taxes on millions of dollars.

Prosecutors presented evidence of Manafort's luxurious lifestyle, saying it was only possible because of his bank and tax fraud.

Following last month's conviction, President Trump praised his former campaign chairman for refusing to "break" under legal pressure.

He tweeted he felt "very badly" for Manafort and lauded him for declining to "make up stories" to get a deal.</s>Prosecutors filed a new slimmed-down set of charges against Paul Manafort (pictured at an earlier date) Friday morning, reining in the felony counts against him from seven to just two: conspiracy against the U.S. and conspiracy to obstruct justice. | Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Mueller Investigation Manafort to cooperate with Mueller as part of plea deal The plea deal seeks to limit his prison time and dismisses deadlocked charges from an earlier trial pending cooperation with the Mueller probe.

President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller under a plea agreement revealed Friday.

Manafort appeared in a Washington, D.C., courtroom Friday morning, looking relaxed in a suit and red tie, to formally cement the deal.

Story Continued Below

The deal dismisses deadlocked charges against Manafort from an earlier bank- and tax-fraud trial in Virginia, but only after "successful cooperation” with Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference and whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Moscow on its efforts. Later, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Manafort is agreeing to "cooperate fully and truthfully" with the investigation.

Separately, the agreement puts a 10-year cap on how long Manafort will be sent to prison in the D.C. case, involving foreign-lobbying and money-laundering charges, according to a source close to the case. The deal also calls for Manafort to serve time concurrently with any sentence from his convictions in Virginia, although that will ultimately be up to the judges involved. But the agreement will not release Manafort from jail, where he has been held since Mueller's team added witness tampering charges during the run-up to the longtime lobbyist's trial.

Manafort's sentencing will not occur until after the midterm elections. Both sides are scheduled to file a written report in his case on Nov. 16, although the sentencing will likely happen at a later date.

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A subdued Manafort addressed Jackson in a soft voice, saying, “I do,” and, “I understand,” as she asked him whether he understood what rights he’s giving up.

“Has anybody forced you, coerced you or threatened you in any way?” she asked later.

“No,” Manafort replied in a barely audible voice. A deputy marshal stood directly behind Manafort, a reminder that he remains in custody.

“Mr. Manafort has accepted responsibility,” Manafort lawyer Kevin Downing told reporters after the hearing. “He wanted to make sure his family was able to remain safe and live a good life. He’s accepted responsibility and this is for conduct that leads back many years, and everybody should remember that.”

Legal experts quickly spun the deal as a win for all the parties involved. Manafort gets a potentially shorter sentence and lessens his legal bills. Trump avoids several weeks of bad headlines ahead of the midterm elections about his corrupt former campaign aide. And Mueller — faced with Trump's constant claims that his probe is a "witch hunt" — gets to show yet again that his charges are not fabricated and can now divert resources to other elements of his Russia probe.

But the specter of Manafort's cooperation with Mueller throws into doubt how much of a win the deal could be for Trump. In addition to running Trump's campaign for several months, Manafort attended the infamous Trump Tower meeting where Trump aides thought they might get dirt on Hillary Clinton from a Kremlin-linked lawyer.

Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani insisted the president and his lawyers were not concerned about Manafort cutting a deal.

"Once again an investigation has concluded with a plea having nothing to do with President Trump or the Trump campaign," he said in a statement Friday. "The reason: the President did nothing wrong and Paul Manafort will tell the truth." Five minutes later, Giuliani issued a "corrected statement," dropping the final line about Manafort telling the truth.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders echoed Giuliani's remarks in her own statement.

"This had absolutely nothing to do with the President or his victorious 2016 Presidential campaign," she said. "It is totally unrelated.”

Prosecutors signaled the pending deal Friday morning, filing a new slimmed-down set of charges against Manafort, reining in the felony counts pending against him in D.C. from seven to just two: conspiracy against the U.S. and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Jackson said in court that sentencing guidelines would call for Manafort to receive more than 17 years in the D.C. case, but that the two charges to which he was pleading guilty allow a maximum sentence of only 10 years. However, she cautioned the former Trump campaign chairman that it is possible any sentence she imposes might be consecutive to whatever sentence the Virginia-based judge directs, leaving open some chance that Manafort could get more than a decade in prison.

Still, Friday's move scuttles a high-profile second trial Manafort was expected to face in Washington on foreign-lobbying and money-laundering charges brought by Mueller — a spectacle that could have been an embarrassing distraction for Trump and the White House in the lead-up to the November midterm elections.

Last month, a jury in Alexandria, Virginia, convicted Manafort on eight felony charges in a tax- and bank-fraud case also prosecuted by Mueller’s team. The jury deadlocked on 10 other counts, but a verdict form said the jurors were split, 11-1, in favor of conviction on those charges.

Many Trump aides and advisers have said they believe the president is likely to grant Manafort a pardon on all the charges, which Trump has suggested amounted to prosecutorial overkill aimed at persuading Manafort to implicate Trump in wrongdoing in connection with the ongoing Russian investigation.

The charges filed Friday morning came in a criminal information document replacing the current indictment in the Washington-based case against Manafort.

The new charges mean that prosecutors have agreed to drop five counts, including money laundering, failing to register as a foreign agent and making false statements. Manafort admitted to those allegations as part of the umbrella conspiracy-against-the-U.S. charge, but the individual charges and the potential prison time they carry are being dismissed.

Weissmann said Manafort is also admitting to all of the bank-fraud charges from the Virginia case. While that means Manafort won’t face another trial over those federal charges, the admission could be critical to the issue of follow-up state charges, since bank fraud can typically be charged at the state and federal level.

After Weissmann read off the new document in court Friday, Judge Jackson asked Manafort: “Is what the prosecutor just said a true and accurate description of what you did in this case?”

“I did. It is,” Manafort replied.

Gene Rossi, a former federal prosecutor from Virginia who has been tracking Manafort's case, called the plea "another huge victory and a seminal moment for the Mueller team."

"In sum, a big day for the investigation," he added. "A witch hunt? Far from it."

Inside the courtroom after the hearing ended, Downing and his fellow defense attorneys shook hands with several members of Mueller’s team, including Weissmann. Prosecutors on the special counsel team hugged each other.

Friday's filing also revealed intriguing details that showed Manafort's foreign lobbying campaign targeting former President Barack Obama and his vice president, Joe Biden.

According to the documents, a group of former European politicians Manafort convened as part of his lobbying effort met with Obama and Biden, “as well as senior United States officials in the executive and legislative branches,” in May 2013.

Alan Friedman, a former journalist based in Europe who proposed creating the group, dubbed the "Hapsburg Group, told Manafort that one member “delivered the message of not letting ‘Russians steal Ukraine from the West.’” The court document claimed that Manafort knew he had to disclose the meeting but failed to do so.

At the time, Manafort was working for Ukrainian Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian leader who was ultimately forced from office by public protest in early 2014.

The court documents indicate that Manafort “orchestrated a scheme to have …’[O]bama jews’ put pressure on the administration” to support Yanukovych. For instance, Manafort disseminated stories that “a senior Cabinet official” who previously criticized Yanukovych “was supporting anti-Semitism." Manafort then worked with a senior Israeli government official to provide a statement spreading the story, with the hope it would force the administration to “understand that ‘the Jewish community will take this out on Obama on election day if he does nothing.'”

The criminal information document did not name the Cabinet official, but Breitbart News published a story in October 2012 with the headline “Jewish Leaders Blame Hillary Clinton For 'Legitimizing' Ukraine's Neo-Nazi Party.”

The case Manafort is likely set to resolve through the plea deal was first brought by Mueller last October. Prosecutors alleged that the veteran political consultant “laundered” more than $30 million in income from work for political groups and individuals in Ukraine, including Yanukovych.

Last June, Mueller’s team added startling new charges to the case, alleging that Manafort conspired with a longtime associate they describe as linked to Russian intelligence — Konstantin Kilimnik — to tamper with witnesses. Prosecutors alleged that while the case was underway, Manafort and Kilimnik reached out to two men who did public relations work on the Ukraine project and encouraged them to falsely say the work was not aimed at U.S. audiences.

None of the charges filed in Virginia or Washington directly accused Manafort of any improper ties to Russia or of seeking to advance Russian interests during the roughly three months he spent as Trump campaign chairman in 2016. However, investigators have explored whether he was subject to Russian influence during that period.

Documents shown at Manafort’s Virginia trial indicated that in 2015 he was owed $1 million by a Ukrainian oligarch for political work. In addition, prosecutors revealed that Manafort was loaned at least $10 million by a Russian oligarch during a business relationship that eventually soured. Congressional investigators reportedly obtained emails showing that during the 2016 campaign Manafort offered to arrange “private briefings” for the Russian businessman, Oleg Deripaska.

Jury selection for Manafort’s D.C. trial was set to begin Monday, with opening arguments scheduled for a week later. Judge Jackson, an Obama appointee, was set to oversee the case.

One key question had been whether a plea agreement head of the trial would require Manafort to cooperate with Mueller’s investigation and offer testimony to the special counsel, particularly on the core question of potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Trump has railed against “flippers” and publicly praised Manafort for refusing to “break” under pressure from the special counsel, making any perception that Manafort is cooperating with the Russia inquiry a possible deal-breaker for a pardon.

On Friday, Downing, Manafort's attorney, told POLITICO that his client has already begun cooperating with Mueller.

Mirroring the judge's remarks, Downing said that Manafort had “agreed to fully cooperate” with Mueller and added that the document approved in court Friday spells out how the arrangement will work.

However, shortly after the plea hearing Friday, a source close to the defense told POLITICO: "The cooperation agreement does not involve the Trump campaign. ... There was no collusion with Russia."

That assertion seemed to be at odds with the broad language of the plea agreement signed by prosecutors and Manafort, which says the former Trump campaign chairman "shall cooperate fully, truthfully, completely and forthrightly with the Government and other law enforcement authorities identified by the Government in any and all matters to which the Government deems the cooperation relevant.”

A spokesman for Mueller said prosecutors agreed that Manafort was entitled to the maximum credit for acceptance of responsibility under federal sentencing guidelines. The deal also says prosecutors may ask that any sentence imposed on Manafort be reduced later if he is deemed to have given “substantial assistance” to Mueller’s probe.

Downing declined to say whether the arrangement would require that Manafort provide details about his interactions with Trump, or whether he would continue sharing information with Trump's lawyers under a joint defense arrangement.

Manafort does stand to lose sizable investments under the agreement. The pact calls for Manafort to forfeit tens of millions of dollars in property and bank accounts, including his Trump Tower apartment, an apartment on Baxter Street in New York's Chinatown, a townhouse on Union Street in Brooklyn and his large estate in Bridgehampton, N.Y.

Some of the property Manafort will surrender substitutes for other assets. Giving up the Chinatown apartment will prevent seizure of a home in Arlington, Virginia, while the Trump Tower apartment was essentially traded for a Charles Schwab brokerage account prosecutors froze. It appears Manafort will be permitted to keep his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and his condo in Alexandria.

Going forward, the sentences for Manafort could be all but academic if Trump grants a pardon.

Indeed, Manafort might never be sentenced at all. Last year, Trump granted a pardon to Joe Arpaio, the Arizona sheriff who is a loyal political supporter and who was awaiting sentencing on a contempt-of-court charge.

That act of clemency stirred political controversy, but it could be mild compared to the furor a pardon for Manafort might set off since many will view it as an act aimed at thwarting Mueller’s investigation.

Manafort’s Virginia trial was deeply irritating to Trump, who grumbled about all the media attention it received, according to aides and advisers. The Washington trial could have proven even more galling for him, and not only because of its proximity to the election.

While much mention of the Trump campaign hadn’t been expected, the D.C. trial was likely to focus on the foreign control of lobbying that Manafort did for Ukraine, Yanukovych and his political allies. The foreign-influence aspect of the case could have led to a more sinister tone in news coverage compared with the Virginia case, which was primarily about Manafort's failure to pay income taxes and allegations that he lied to banks when submitting loan applications.

Not only can Manafort "reduce his sentence and legal bills," said Barbara McQuade, a former attorney and law professor at the University of Michigan who watched Manafort's first trial in the courtroom, "he can also help President Trump by avoiding damaging daily headlines for the next several weeks in the run up to the midterm elections."

As the crowds dispersed after Friday's hearing, it signaled something of a public end to one of the more visible legal battles of the long-running Mueller probe. Downing, Manafort's attorney, walked away from the courthouse followed by a diminishing number of media and a man who frequents Mueller proceedings holding a sign publicizing his company that offers tours of African American historical sites in Washington.

Trailing behind, one of Downing's colleagues acknowledged it was not clear where exactly his partner was going.</s>US President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort will plead guilty to two criminal counts as part of a deal with prosecutors on Friday, court documents showed in what could be a blow to Trump in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s long-running probe of Russian election meddling.

As part of the deal, Manafort, 69, could be required to cooperate with Mueller’s probe into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 US presidential election.

Details of the deal were likely to emerge in a plea agreement hearing scheduled for 11 am ET (1500 GMT) in federal court. Manafort would become the most prominent former Trump campaign official to plead guilty in Mueller’s investigation, which has cast a shadow over Trump’s presidency.

It remains unclear if the deal will include Manafort’s cooperation with Mueller’s probe, dealing a blow to Trump ahead of congressional elections on November 6.

Another approach would be for Manafort to plead guilty without cooperating in hopes of a presidential pardon. Trump has not said whether he would pardon Manafort, but the president has not publicly ruled it out.

Manafort will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy against the United States and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, according to documents filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Five other charges were dropped in the new court filing.

A Virginia jury convicted Manafort last month on bank and tax fraud charges.

Jury selection was due to begin on Monday in a second trial on charges including conspiring to launder money, conspiring to defraud the United States, failing to register as a foreign agent and witness tampering.

Manafort’s decision could be a blow to Trump, who last month praised his former aide for not entering into an agreement with prosecutors, as the president’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen had.

On Twitter on Aug. 22, Trump wrote: “Unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to ‘break’ – make up stories in order to get a ‘deal. Such respect for a brave man!”

According to the court filing, the charge of conspiracy against the United States includes money laundering, tax fraud, failing to disclose foreign bank accounts, and acting as an unregistered lobbyist for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine. The second count, for conspiracy to obstruct justice, concerns attempts to tamper with witnesses related to Manafort’s foreign lobbying.

Manafort’s conviction in Alexandria, Virginia, last month was at a trial arising from Mueller’s investigation. Trump has denied colluding with the Russians and the Russians have denied interfering.

Rick Gates, Manafort’s former business partner and the campaign’s deputy chairman, pleaded guilty to lesser charges in exchange for his cooperation, later testifying against Manafort in Virginia. Gates may have been a prosecution witness in his Washington trial as well.

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who is now representing Trump in the Russia probe, told Reuters on Friday that a guilty plea to avoid a second trial would not crush Manafort’s chances of receiving an eventual presidential pardon.

“It’s not going to hurt him if he pleads guilty. Usually it helps you get a pardon down the road. It shows you’ve admitted your guilt,” he said on Friday before a deal was announced. He declined further comment until after the hearing.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App</s>Paul Manafort, who once headed President Donald Trump's campaign, pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy charges and has agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigations.

Manafort's plea deal with Mueller dramatically ramps up the legal and political danger already facing Trump, who is being eyed by the special counsel for possible obstruction of justice. The deal came three days before the scheduled start of jury selection in U.S. District Court in Washington for Manafort's second trial.

Prosecutors said the deal, which will require Manafort to forfeit an estimated $46 million in assets, includes a 17-page cooperation agreement with Mueller.

Under that agreement, Manafort must participating in interviews with investigators, prove documents and testify, if needed.

The guilty plea by Manafort, 69, relates to money earned from consulting work on behalf of pro-Russia politicians in Ukraine and predate his tenure as chairman of Trump's presidential campaign. However, during his time on the campaign, he participated in a controversial meeting with Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, with a Russian lawyer who supposedly had negative information about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Mueller is investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion by members of Trump's campaign in that effort. Mueller is also looking into whether Trump obstructed justice in an effort to influence the Russia probe.

The special counsel previously obtained guilty pleas to crimes from Trump's ex-national security advisor Michael Flynn, campaign advisor George Papadopoulos and former Trump campaign official Rick Gates, who was a Manafort associate.

Last month, Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to charges brought by federal prosecutors in New York. Those included tax crimes and a campaign finance charge related to the $130,000 hush-money payment Cohen said he gave to porn star Stormy Daniels at Trump's behest to keep her quiet about an affair she says she had with the president, who denies that tryst occurred.

"This had absolutely nothing to do with the President or his victorious 2016 Presidential campaign," said press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders as the plea hearing was still going on. "It is totally unrelated."

Rudy Giuliani, Trump's lawyer for the Russia probe, said: "Once again an investigation has concluded with a plea having nothing to do with President Trump or the Trump campaign."

"The reason: the President did nothing wrong and Paul Manafort will tell the truth," Giuliani said.

Within minutes of Giuliani issuing that statement, another Trump lawyer, Jay Sekulow, sent a "corrected statement" to reporters that said the same thing but omitted the words "and Paul Manafort will tell the truth."</s>Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has pleaded guilty to two federal charges as part of a cooperation deal with prosecutors.The deal requires him to cooperate "fully and truthfully" with special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.The charges against Manafort are related to his Ukrainian consulting work - not Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which is the central issue in the special counsel's investigation.Friday's move gives Mueller another successful conviction while allowing Manafort to avoid facing another costly public trial.Manafort was convicted last month of eight financial crimes in a separate trial in Virginia.The White House says Manafort's decision to plead guilty and cooperate with Mueller is "totally unrelated" to President Donald Trump.</s>Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort agreed Friday to cooperate with the special counsel's Russia investigation as he pleaded guilty to federal charges and avoided a second trial that could have exposed him to even greater punishment.The deal gives special counsel Robert Mueller a key cooperator who led the Trump election effort for a crucial stretch during the 2016 presidential campaign. The result also ensures the investigation will extend far beyond the November congressional elections despite entreaties from the president's lawyers that Mueller bring his probe to a close.It is unclear what information Manafort is prepared to provide to investigators about President Donald Trump or that could aid Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. But the plea nonetheless makes Manafort the latest associate of Trump, a president known to place a premium on loyalty among subordinates, to admit guilt and cooperate with investigators in hopes of leniency.In the past year, Mueller has secured pleas from a former national security adviser who lied to the FBI about discussing sanctions with a Russian ambassador, a campaign aide who broached the idea of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin; and another aide who was indicted alongside Manafort but ultimately turned on him. The president's former personal lawyer has separately pleaded guilty in New York.Friday's deal, to charges tied to Ukrainian political consulting work but unrelated to the campaign, was struck just days before Manafort was to have stood trial for a second time.He was convicted last month of eight financial crimes in a separate trial in Virginia and faces seven to 10 years in prison in that case. The two conspiracy counts he pleaded guilty to on Friday carry up to five years in prison, though Manafort's sentence will ultimately depend on his cooperation.He smiled broadly as he entered the courtroom Friday but gave terse and barely audible answers during questioning from the judge."He wanted to make sure that his family was able to remain safe and live a good life. He's accepted responsibility. This is for conduct that dates back many years and everybody should remember that," said attorney Kevin Downing.The cooperation deal requires Manafort to provide whatever information the government asks of him, though it does not specify what if anything prosecutors hope to receive about Trump.Given his direct involvement in the Trump campaign, including episodes being scrutinized by Mueller, Manafort could be positioned to provide key insight for investigators working to establish whether the campaign coordinated with Russia.Manafort was among the participants, for instance, in a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians and the president's oldest son and son-in-law that was arranged so the campaign could receive derogatory information about Democrat Hillary Clinton. A grand jury used by Mueller has heard testimony about the meeting.He was also a close business associate of a man who U.S. intelligence believes has ties to Russian intelligence. And while he was working on the Trump campaign, emails show Manafort discussed providing private briefings for a wealthy Russian businessman close to Vladimir Putin.White House press secretary Sarah Sanders insisted that the Manafort case was unrelated to Trump."This had absolutely nothing to do with the president or his victorious 2016 presidential campaign. It is totally unrelated."Added Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani: "Once again an investigation has concluded with a plea having nothing to do with President Trump or the Trump campaign."Under the terms of the deal, Manafort was allowed to plead guilty to just two conspiracy counts, though the crimes he admitted cover the same conduct alleged in an indictment last year. Manafort's homes in New York City, in the Hamptons and in Virginia, as well as money from his bank accounts and life insurance policies may be seized by the government as part of the deal.It's unclear how the deal might affect any Manafort pursuit of a pardon from Trump. The president has signaled that he's sympathetic to Manafort's cause. In comments to Politico before the plea deal, Giuliani said a plea without a cooperation agreement wouldn't foreclose the possibility of a pardon.Manafort had aggressively fought the charges against him and taken shots at his co-defendant, Rick Gates, who cut a deal with prosecutors earlier this year that included a cooperation agreement.At the time of Gates' plea, Manafort issued a statement saying he "had hoped and expected my business colleague would have had the strength to continue the battle to prove our innocence." And during his Virginia trial in August, Manafort's lawyers spent considerable time painting Gates as a liar, embezzler, philanderer and turncoat who would say anything to get a lighter prison sentence.Pleading guilty allows Manafort to avoid a trial that was expected to last at least three weeks and posed the potential of adding years to the time he is already facing under federal sentencing guidelines from his conviction in Virginia.A jury in that earlier trial found Manafort guilty of eight counts of tax evasion, failing to report foreign bank accounts and bank fraud. Jurors deadlocked on 10 other counts.In the current Washington case, prosecutors had been expected to lay out in detail Manafort's political consulting and lobbying work on behalf of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and the pro-Russian Party of Regions.Prosecutors say that Manafort directed a large scale lobbying operation in the U.S. for Ukrainian interests without registering with the Justice Department as required by the federal Foreign Agents Registration Act. Manafort was accused of concealing from the IRS tens of millions of dollars in proceeds from his Ukrainian patrons and conspiring to launder that money through offshore accounts in Cyprus and elsewhere.Manafort had denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty. After his indictment last October, prosecutors say he continued to commit crimes by tampering with witnesses.</s>President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges Friday in connection with his past lobbying efforts on behalf of Ukraine. As part of the plea deal, Manafort has also agreed to cooperate in the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election led by special counsel Robert Mueller. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.</s>Flipping Paul Manafort gives the special counsel a cooperating witness who was at key events relevant to the Russia investigation.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort agreed Friday to provide testimony to special counsel Robert Mueller as part of a plea deal that could answer some of the most critical questions about whether any Americans conspired with Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election.

The decision to cooperate with Mueller in hopes of a lesser prison sentence is a stunning development, signaling Manafort’s surrender to criminal charges that he cheated the IRS, violated foreign lobbying laws and tried to obstruct justice, opening a new potential legal vulnerability for Trump.

“I plead guilty,” Manafort told U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson at a hearing Friday in federal court in the District of Columbia. As part of his plea, Manafort admitted to years of financial crimes to hide his money from the IRS and promised to tell the government about “his participation in and knowledge of all criminal activities.”

Flipping Manafort gives Mueller a cooperating witness who was at key events relevant to the Russia investigation: a Trump Tower meeting attended by a Russian lawyer, the Republican National Convention and a variety of other behind-the-scenes discussions in spring and summer 2016.

“This is a big win for Mueller’s team. Gaining Manafort’s cooperation has always been viewed as the Holy Grail of this investigation,” said Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice. “It now remains to be seen what Manafort can provide, but it is unlikely that prosecutors would have been willing to strike this deal unless they were already convinced that he has valuable information.”

Court papers indicate Manafort was talking in detail to prosecutors at least as early as Monday, making multiple statements and a written proffer to investigators as the two sides worked toward a deal.

In return for his cooperation, Manafort hopes to have years shaved off a potential 10-year prison sentence and see his family hold on to some property.

Kevin Downing, an attorney for Manafort, said after the hearing, “He wanted to make sure his family was able to remain safe and live a good life,” Downing said of Manafort. “He has accepted responsibility.”

When asked whether the deal with Mueller’s team is a full cooperation agreement, Downing replied, “It is.”

Manafort’s cooperation was first revealed by prosecutor Andrew Weissmann at the outset of the hearing.

Jackson noted that Manafort had agreed to cooperate “fully and truthfully” with the investigation conducted by the office of special counsel.

Under the terms of the deal, Manafort faces a possible maximum prison sentence of about 10 years, though that does not include any likely sentence for his conviction last month in Virginia.

As part of the plea deal, the government plans to seize five properties worth millions of dollars, including Manafort’s apartment in Trump Tower. The deal also calls for forfeiture of a handful of financial accounts and a life-insurance policy.

Before Manafort pleaded guilty, Weissmann spent about 40 minutes describing in detail Manafort’s criminal conduct, from a 10-year scheme to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, to hiding millions of dollars he earned from that work, and then, when investigators were on his trail, trying to tamper with witnesses in the case.

After a year of denying the charges and fighting them at every stage of the investigation, Manafort admitted Friday that he did what prosecutors had long said: cheated the IRS out of $15 million and lied repeatedly to try to cover his tracks. While he pleaded guilty to just two of the seven charges he faced at trial, prosecutors forced him to admit to the broad scope of his financial and secret lobbying schemes.

“I believe it’s fair to say that’s probably the longest and most detailed summary that ever preceded this question, but is what the prosecutor said a true and accurate description of what you did in this case?” Jackson asked Manafort.

“I did. It is,” Manafort said.

The deal will pre-empt Manafort’s trial scheduled for this month. Manafort pleaded guilty to two charges: conspiring to defraud the United States and conspiring to obstruct justice.

After the plea-deal announcement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement: “This had absolutely nothing to do with the President or his victorious 2016 Presidential campaign. It is totally unrelated.”

Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said: “Once again an investigation has concluded with a plea having nothing to do with President Trump or the Trump campaign. The reason: The president did nothing wrong.”

A criminal information — a legal document filed by prosecutors to detail the criminal conduct to be admitted by the defendant — was filed in advance of the plea.

The document is a list of Manafort’s admitted criminal conduct, including funneling millions of dollars in payments into offshore accounts to conceal his income from the IRS. “Manafort cheated the United States out of over $15 million in taxes,” the document states.

The filing offers new details about the various ways in which Manafort sought to surreptitiously lobby the U.S. government and influence U.S. public opinion toward Ukraine.

In 2012, Manafort set out to help his client — Ukraine’s then-president, Viktor Yanukovych — by tarnishing the reputation of Yanukovych’s political rival, Yulia Tymoshenko, according to the document. “Manafort stated that ‘[m]y goal is to plant some stink on Tymo,’” according to the document. At the time he made that statement, he was trying to get U.S. news outlets to print articles saying Tymoshenko had paid for the killing of a Ukrainian official, according to the criminal information.

The document also says Manafort “orchestrated a scheme to have, as he wrote in a contemporaneous communication, ‘[O]bama jews’ put pressure on the administration to disavow Tymoshenko and support Yanukovych.”

Manafort set out to spread stories in the United States that a senior U.S. Cabinet official “was supporting anti-Semitism because the official supported Tymoshenko,” according to the document.

At one point, Manafort wrote to an associate: “I have someone pushing it on the NY Post. Bada bing bada boom.” The document does not identify the then-Cabinet official, and it was not clear whether such an article was published.

The guilty plea is another reversal for Manafort, 69. The political consultant was convicted last month in Alexandria, Virginia, federal court on charges of bank and tax fraud.

The longtime lobbyist resigned as Trump campaign chairman in August 2016 amid increasing scrutiny of his work in Ukraine.

Both cases brought against Manafort by the special counsel stemmed from his work in Ukraine. The jury in Virginia found that Manafort hid millions of dollars he made there to avoid paying taxes and lied to get loans when the political party that was paying him was ousted and the money dried up.

Manafort was not sentenced Friday. For now he will remain in jail, where he has been since June, when prosecutors accused him of witness tampering.

He has yet to be sentenced in Virginia, where legal experts say he faces eight to 10 years in prison under federal guidelines on the eight of 18 counts on which he was convicted.</s>President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, has agreed to plead guilty to federal crimes at a hearing Friday morning, officials said.

The planned plea, if accepted by a judge, would short-circuit his second trial scheduled to begin later this month in the District of Columbia on charges of money laundering and lobbying violations.

The details of Manafort's plea were not immediately clear, including whether he would be providing any information to special counsel Robert Mueller as part of any deal.

People familiar with the plea discussions have previously said that Manafort has no intention of cooperating with Mueller, so it's possible any prospective agreement could allow him to admit guilt without providing information to investigators.

A hearing in the case scheduled for Friday morning was pushed back, according to the federal court's electronic filing system.

The move toward a guilty plea is another reversal for Manafort, who has fought vociferously - but unsuccessfully - against Mueller's probe. The 69-year-old political consultant was convicted last month in Alexandria, Virginia federal court on charges of bank and tax fraud.

In-person jury selection for his Washington trial was set to start Monday, with opening statements scheduled for Sept. 24 before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson. Any deal would not be final until Manafort admits guilt before the judge, who would need to approve the plea.

Another conviction would cap a dramatic fall for the international power broker and confidant of Republican presidents dating back to Ronald Reagan. Manafort's decision could be mixed news for Trump, who tapped the consultant to serve as his campaign chairman in June 2016 as he was securing the GOP presidential nomination.

If Manafort were to cooperate with Mueller, that could provide investigators new evidence or leads to chase; a guilty plea, however, would prevent weeks worth of headlines about the trial in the month before congressional elections.

The longtime lobbyist resigned from his position as campaign chairman in August 2016 amid increasing scrutiny of his work on behalf of a Russia-friendly political party in Ukraine.

Over a 40-year career, Manafort redefined and expanded Washington's influence industry domestically and internationally, parlaying successful campaigns into lobbying opportunities. But by the mid-2000s, there were signs that his consulting career had slumped, and at times his finances appeared to be shaky. It was in Ukraine that he revived both - in ways prosecutors say violated the law.

Both cases brought against Manafort by the special counsel stem from his work in Ukraine. The jury in Virginia found that Manafort hid millions of dollars he made in Ukraine to avoid paying taxes, and then lied to get loans when the political party that was paying him was ousted from power and the funding dried up.

In the trial scheduled in Washington, Manafort faces charges of conspiring against the United States, money laundering, failing to register as a lobbyist, making false statements and conspiring to obstruct justice by trying to influence witnesses.

Manafort had the choice to consolidate both cases into one but declined. He had been jailed since June as a result of the witness tampering charges.

He has yet to be sentenced in Virginia, where legal experts say he faces 8 to 10 years in prison under federal guidelines on the eight of 18 counts on which he was convicted. A mistrial was declared on the remaining 10 charges after jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict.

It's unclear how a guilty plea might alter his ultimate sentence, and some lawyers have questioned whether he is focused on winning a reprieve elsewhere. Law enforcement officials have come to suspect that Manafort hopes he will be pardoned by the president, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.

Trump has sought advice from his lawyers on the possibility of pardoning Manafort and other aides accused of crimes, his attorney Rudy Giuliani previously told The Washington Post, and was counseled against pardoning anyone involved in the ongoing Mueller probe. The president agreed to wait at least until the investigation concludes, Giuliani has said.

Several defendants have cooperated or pleaded guilty in connection with the special counsel probe, including Manafort's former right-hand man Rick Gates; former national security adviser Michael Flynn; Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who worked with Manafort; W. Samuel Patten, who admitted arranging for a Ukrainian businessman to illegally donate to Trump's inauguration; and former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, who was sentenced to 14 days in jail last week after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI.

The decision by Trump's onetime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to plead guilty last month in a federal investigation in Manhattan particularly angered the president, who denounced him as a "flipper."

Earlier this year, Manafort derided Gates, his former business partner, for striking a deal with prosecutors that provided him leniency in exchange for testimony against his former partner.

"I had hoped and expected my business colleague would have had the strength to continue the battle to prove our innocence," Manafort said in February.

Kevin M. Downing, an attorney for Manafort, also said earlier this summer there was "no chance" his client would flip and cooperate with prosecutors.

That posture drew plaudits from Trump, who praised his former campaign chairman for his unwillingness to cooperate with the special counsel.

Prosecutors "applied tremendous pressure on him and . . . he refused to 'break' - make up stories in order to get a 'deal,' " the president tweeted last month. "Such respect for a brave man!"

Tom Hamburger and Rachel Weiner contributed to this report.</s>Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleaded guilty Friday to reduced federal charges in a "cooperation agreement" deal with prosecutors that will allow him to avoid a second trial scheduled to begin next week.The charges are related to Manafort's Ukrainian political consulting work.Friday's court filing said Manafort's homes in New York City, in the Hamptons and in Virginia, as well as money from his bank accounts and life insurance policies may be seized by the government as part of the deal.As part of the deal, Manafort will cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation into possible coordination between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia.In the new filing, prosecutors dropped the bulk of the charges against Manafort, filing new paperwork that includes just two counts that resemble in many ways the original allegations made in an indictment last year.The charges were contained in a criminal information document that can only be filed with a defendant's consent and typically signals a deal has been reached. The charges include conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice.The allegations do not involve his work with the Trump presidential campaign.Manafort was convicted last month of eight financial crimes in a separate trial in Virginia. He was facing a second trial Monday on charges related to Ukrainian political consulting work, including failing to register as a foreign agent.It's unclear how the deal might affect Manafort's pursuit of a pardon from President Donald Trump. The president has signaled that he's sympathetic to Manafort's cause, and in comments to Politico, his attorney-spokesman Rudy Giuliani said a plea without a cooperation agreement wouldn't foreclose the possibility of a pardon.Manafort has aggressively fought the charges against him and taken shots at his co-defendant, Rick Gates, who cut a deal with prosecutors earlier this year that included a cooperation agreement.At the time of Gates' plea, Manafort issued a statement saying he "had hoped and expected my business colleague would have had the strength to continue the battle to prove our innocence." And during his Virginia trial in August, Manafort's lawyers spent considerable time painting Gates as a liar, embezzler, philanderer and turncoat who would say anything to get a lighter prison sentence.Pleading guilty would allow Manafort to avoid a trial that was expected to last at least three weeks and posed the potential of adding years onto the seven to 10 years he is already facing under federal sentencing guidelines from his conviction in Virginia.A jury found Manafort guilty of eight counts of tax evasion, failing to report foreign bank accounts and bank fraud. Jurors deadlocked on 10 other counts.In the Washington case, prosecutors were set to lay out in great detail Manafort's political consulting and lobbying work on behalf of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and the pro-Russian Party of Regions.Prosecutors say that Manafort directed a large scale lobbying operation in the U.S. for Ukrainian interests without registering with the Justice Department as required by the federal Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. Manafort was accused of concealing from the IRS tens of millions of dollars in proceeds from his Ukrainian patrons and conspiring to launder that money through offshore accounts in Cyprus and elsewhere.Manafort had denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty. Even after his indictment last October, though, prosecutors say he continued to commit crimes by tampering with witnesses. The discovery of his witness contacts led to a superseding indictment in June and Manafort's jailing ahead of his trial.In addition to the witness tampering counts, Manafort had been formally charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent, conspiring to launder money and lying to the FBI and Justice Department about the nature of his work. Court papers indicated that he could have faced between 15 and 19 1/2 years in prison under federal guidelines.----------
Former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort agrees to plead guilty in a foreign-lobbying and money laundering case brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. Manafort has agreed to cooperate with the investigation.