Attorneys Clash in Court Over Alleged Manafort Lies
Friday's hearing marked the first time attorneys on both sides met in open court after prosecutors accused the former Trump campaign chairman of lying to the special counsel's office and federal investigators
November 30, 2018 at 10:35 AM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on National Law Journal
A prosecutor did not rule out the possibility Friday that the special counsel's office would bring additional charges against Paul Manafort for allegedly violating his September plea deal.
Andrew Weissmann, a top prosecutor working under Special Counsel Robert Mueller III, said his team was prepared to detail how Manafort, the onetime Trump campaign chairman and Connecticut native, broke his plea agreement by lying to investigators. When asked by Judge Amy Berman Jackson whether the special counsel planned to charge Manafort over those allegedly false statements, Weissmann replied, “That determination has not been made yet.”
Berman Jackson set a Dec. 7 deadline for the special counsel to lay out Manafort's alleged lies. She also set Manafort's sentencing for March 5, but signaled the date could change as prosecutors and Manafort's defense lawyers duel over whether the plea agreement was breached.
“We may be able to accelerate it. We may have to put it off,” Berman Jackson said.
The developments came during a Friday morning hearing before Jackson. The proceeding marked the first time attorneys on both sides met in open court after prosecutors accused Manafort of lying to the special counsel's office and federal investigators, violating a September plea deal where he agreed to cooperate fully and truthfully with the government.
Manafort's defense lawyers have denied that he lied to investigators. Kevin Downing, a lead defense lawyer for Manafort, declined to comment after Friday's hearing.
In court, lawyers were at odds over how much prosecutors have discussed Manafort's alleged misstatements with Manafort's attorneys. Defense lawyer Kevin Downing said there were “a lot of unknowns” as to what the U.S. intended to do, while Weissmann asserted that there had been “lengthy conversations” with the defense.
Manafort has “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,” prosecutors said in a Monday court filing.
Manafort first entered into a plea deal with prosecutors in September, a day before jury selection was set to begin in a Washington, D.C., trial on charges related to his past foreign lobbying work for Ukraine. As part of the agreement, he pleaded guilty to two conspiracy counts, including one covering broad offenses related to his previous lobbying work and his effort to conceal income, and another related to the set of witness tampering allegations that landed him in jail this year.
In addition to the counts in Washington, D.C,. Manafort was found guilty of eight counts of financial fraud by an Alexandria, Virginia, federal jury in August. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Eastern District of Virginia plans to sentence Manafort in February.
Manafort, who is currently in a Virginia jail, did not attend Friday's hearing.
Read more:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllPlaintiffs Seek to Avoid Jurisdiction Fight in IVF Case, Challenge CooperSurgical in Connecticut
4 minute readPike Fuels Agrees to Pay $2 Million Settlement to Resolve Alleged New Haven Environmental Violations
2 minute readHigh-Flying Genetics Testing Firm GeneDx Hires Ex-Zoetis GC as Legal Chief
2 minute readApple Asks Judge to 'Follow the Majority Practice' in Dismissing Patent Dispute Over Night Vision Technology
Trending Stories
- 1UN Treaty Enacting Cybercrime Standards Likely to Face Headwinds in U.S., Other Countries
- 2Clark Hill Acquires L&E Boutique in Mexico City, Adding 5 Lawyers
- 36th Circuit Judges Spar Over Constitutionality of Ohio’s Ballot Initiative Procedures
- 4On The Move: Polsinelli Adds Health Care Litigator in Nashville, Ex-SEC Enforcer Joins BCLP in Atlanta
- 5After Mysterious Parting With Last GC, Photronics Fills Vacancy
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250