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Paul Manafort, former president of Donald Trump's campaign, leaves the Federal District Court on November 2, 2017 in Washington.(Photo: AP)
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal judge, Paul Manafort, suffers Friday, Feb. 8, as former Trump campaign chairman continued to cooperate with Justice Department special advisor Robert Mueller on Russia in the 2016 elections.
Manafort appeared in federal wheelchair court, his right foot swollen in a white sock. Defense attorney Kevin Downing advocated an expedited date for sentencing, stating that there were "significant issues" for his client's health.
Downing did not explain in detail the condition of Manafort, but one informed person said that Manafort was suffering from a right foot inflammation related to dieting.
The person, who is not allowed to comment publicly, refused to say more, except to describe the situation of Manafort as serious.
Manafort, who did not speak during the brief hearing, was found guilty of eight counts of financial fraud in a trial that took place in August and in which the jury was convicted for ten other counts.
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US District Judge T.S. Ellis III dismissed these charges Friday, saying that he did not wish to wait until the end of Manafort's cooperation.
More: "I plead guilty": Paul Manafort concludes a cooperation agreement with the Mueller team
More: Advocacy agreement exposes Paul Manafort as political agent with bare hands
Ellis had asked prosecutors to decide if they would retry Manafort on 10 counts, but he decided to dismiss them when prosecutors said they could not determine when Manafort's assistance would be complete.
The Manafort trial in August, Virginia, was Mueller's first lawsuit.
Last month, Manafort entered into a cooperation agreement with the Mueller team to avoid a related second lawsuit in the District of Columbia.
Since then, he meets Mueller's team as part of the ongoing investigation into Russia.
Manafort was not found guilty of participating in the campaign of election interference. But his oversight of the campaign and his participation in key meetings, including a gathering of the best Trump Tower campaign advisers in 2016 with a Russian lawyer promising damaging information about the then Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, could have an impact on Mueller's investigation into a possible coordination with Russia. .
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