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Former president of the Trump campaign Paul Manafort
Paul John Manafort Manafort seeks plea agreement without special co-operation with lawyers: report Investigators examine suspicious money transfers after Trump Tower meeting, election: report would have concluded a "provisional" plea agreement with a special counsel Robert Mueller
Robert Swan MuellerSasse: The United States should applaud Mueller's choice of leading Russia to investigate MORE.
ABC News announced Thursday that the tentative agreement was announced Friday.
A preliminary conference is planned to Friday in a federal court in Washington, DC Thursday night, Judge Amy Berman Jackson pushed the conference from 9:30 to 11:00. No explanation for the delay has been given.
ABC said it was not clear whether Manafort agreed to cooperate with Mueller's investigation or that it concedes a plea of guilty.
Sources familiar with the discussions told ABC that accepting a plea of guilty would allow Manafort to avoid the expense and stress of a trial.
The special advocate's office declined to comment on The Hill's report of a draft plea agreement. Neither Manafort's lawyers nor family spokesman Jason Maloni responded to requests for comment.
The report of an agreement in principle comes a few days before the start of jury selection for the trial of Manafort in DC, which must begin with opening statements on September 24.
The trial would be the second for Manafort, following Mueller's diligent investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections.
Manafort was convicted of eight counts of federal tax and banking fraud in Virginia in August, a move widely viewed as a victory for Mueller's team in its first judicial review of the investigation into Russia. The jury, however, was unable to rule on 10 counts for Manafort. Prosecutors have not yet indicated whether they plan to try again on these charges.
The former Trump partner faces seven separate charges in DC, including not signing up as a lobbyist for a foreign country and bank fraud, conspiracy in sight to launder money. The charges stem from his lobbying work for pro-Russian forces in Ukraine, unrelated to his work on the Trump campaign.
Manafort was chairman of Trump's campaign until August 2016, when he resigned as reports of his work for Russian-backed oligarchs in Ukraine were published. His former partner, Richard Gates, pleaded guilty and cooperated with Mueller's investigation, testifying against him at the first trial.
Reports circulated for a week that Manafort's defense lawyers were in talks with Mueller's team to reach an agreement to avoid the second trial.
ABC News reported Wednesday that Manafort was seeking to avoid an agreement that would involve its cooperation with government prosecutors in the investigation of Russia.
Manafort's cooperation could be important. He was one of the three Trump associates present at the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 with a Russian lawyer, after Donald Trump Jr.
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Since Manafort's guilty verdict in August, speculation is mounting that Trump could forgive him.
– Lydia Wheeler contributed to this report, which was updated at 18:51
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