According to a CNBC report, special counsel Robert Mueller accused Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort of sharing polling data from the 2016 presidential campaign with an alleged Russian spy.
Manafort’s defense lawyers had meant for those accusations to be sealed from the public, but CNBC found a workaround that made those sections viewable. In the filings, Mueller accused Manafort of sharing polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, a former business associate who is believed to have had ties to a Russian intelligence service in 2016.
The filing also accuses Manafort of lying to Mueller about text messages from “a third-party,” in which Manafort was asked for permission for his name to be used as an introduction should that party meet with the President.
Manafort is currently being held without bail while he awaits sentencing for crimes predating his tenure with the Trump campaign. The filings in question were in response to earlier allegations by Mueller that Manafort had violated his cooperation agreement with the special counsel as part of his plea deal.
In that agreement, Manafort had agreed to share information with the special counsel’s office in the hopes of receiving leniency during his sentencing.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is handling the case, issued an order telling Mueller to file documents defining, “the factual and evidentiary basis of the five alleged breaches” Manafort has committed against his agreement by next Monday.
