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Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort has agreed to an advocacy deal with Special Adviser Robert Mueller, who will close his next trial, sources close to the talks said.
The agreement is expected to be announced in court on Friday, but it is still unclear whether Manafort has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors or if he simply agrees to a plea of guilty, which would allow him to avoid stress and trial costs, according to three sources. knowledge of the discussions.
PHOTO: Former Trump campaign president, Paul Manafort, leaves the federal court after a hearing in Washington on February 14, 2018. (Shawn Thew / EPA / REX via Shutterstock)
Manafort and his defense lawyers spent more than four hours Thursday discussing with a team of special prosecutors involved in the ongoing investigation into whether there had been collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
ABC News spotted the team arriving in a dark SUV on Thursday morning, arriving at a secret entrance out of public view in the building where Special Adviser Robert Mueller is located.
PHOTO: Robert Mueller, then director of the FBI, listens to what he has testified at Capitol Hill, Washington, on June 13, 2012. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP, FILE)
The news of the agreement comes as Manafort's second trial was scheduled to begin later this month in a federal court in Washington, DC.
(PLUS: Manafort convicted of 8 counts in tax evasion lawsuit)
A little less than a year ago, the 69 – year – old GOP veteran was indicted in Washington, DC, for several counts of fraud and failure to register. as a foreign agent by the special board. A second case was opened in Virginia earlier this year on charges related to Mr. Manafort's conviction on eight counts for an 80-year-old charge. to be closer to seven. He was not convicted in this case.
(PLUS: Trump calls Manafort "very good person," he says, it's very sad what happened to the former campaign president)
Manafort was detained several months after prosecutors accused him of tampering with witnesses.
He joined the president's campaign in March 2016 and became president of the campaign in May. He left the campaign in August after the New York Times
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A spokesman for Manafort and a representative of the Special Adviser's Office both declined to comment.
<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – smt Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "ABC News & Allison Pecorin contributed to this report."data-reactid =" 46 ">ABC News & Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
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