Federal Judge in Washington asks lawyers for more evidence of Paul Manafort's alleged lies

A federal judge presiding over the case of special advocate Robert Mueller against Paul Manafort asked prosecutors for "the underlying evidence" to support their claims that the former president of the Trump campaign had lied after signing a cooperation agreement as part of their investigation into Russian election interference the 2016 campaign.

Defense lawyers for Manafort and Attorneys Special Council Office met Tuesday in a federal courthouse for the first time since Robert Mueller and his team described the subject of the lies that Manafort had committed . Defense counsel said the government did not have enough information about the alleged lies of their clients to respond to their allegations on Tuesday.

A series of deadlines were set in January for the defense to submit its disputes to the government's accusations and for the Crown to respond.

Brendan Smialowsk / AFP / Getty Images

The Special Council Office last week filed a heavily redacted court document accusing Manafort of providing false information about his contacts with officials of the Trump administration and his interactions with Konstantin Kilimnik, a long-time partner whom the special council has identified as a former Russian intelligence officer.

According to the document, Manfort also lied about money laundering, an electronic transfer to a company that worked for him, and "relevant information for another investigation by the Department of Justice".

Manafort's lies, Mueller wrote, constituted a violation of his plea agreement.

Tuesday's hearing was largely superficial, with US judge Amy Berman Jackson asking both parties how to proceed. The defense will have until early next year to file court documents responding to each of their clients' allegations of lies.

Defense lawyers said the government did not have enough information about the alleged lies of their clients to respond to their allegations on Tuesday.

Manafort, who had been convicted of eight counts of tax evasion and banking fraud in Virginia the previous month, had entered into an advocacy agreement with the Mueller team in September, on the eve of A second trial in Washington, DC.

But the agreement collapsed last month when prosecutors accused Manafort of violating his plea agreement by lying in interviews after signing a co-operation agreement. large".

According to ABC News, Manafort's legal team continued to exchange information about its interactions with Mueller's legal team with the president's legal team, spurring rumors that Manafort was in danger of presidential pardon.

Last month, Trump told The New York Post that he "would not take anything off the table".

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, said on Sunday "This week" that forgiving Manafort would be a "terrible mistake" and that this could eventually "trigger a debate on whether grace powers should be changed."

Manafort joined the Trump campaign in March 2016 and became president in May. He left the Trump campaign in August 2016 after articles in the New York Times and the Associated Press suggest that he had been engaged in illegal lobbying activities in Ukraine.