That was the first criminal trial arising from the justice department’s investigation into alleged interference by Russia in the 2016 election.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Manafort: Trump’s former campaign chair<\/a><\/li>\n
- What did we learn from Manafort trial?<\/a><\/li>\n
- Manafort: The man who helped Trump win<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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.<\/p>\n
What happened on Friday?<\/h2>\n
In an appearance at a federal court, Manafort pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy against the US and one charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In the first trial, Manafort was accused of using 31 foreign bank accounts in three different countries to evade taxes on millions of dollars.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors presented evidence of Manafort’s luxurious lifestyle, saying it was only possible because of his bank and tax fraud.<\/p>\n
![\"Grey](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/7957\/production\/_103436013_464x2_line.jpg\")
<\/span><\/figure>\nWhat might Manafort reveal?<\/h2>\n
Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington<\/strong><\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Although the White House downplays his importance to the campaign, Mr Manafort had top perch in the Trump team for key months in 2016.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Source\u00a0\u00a0bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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