4:40 p.m.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is accusing President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman of secretly paying former European politicians to lobby on behalf of Ukraine.

The new allegation against Paul Manafort comes in a newly unsealed indictment made public Friday. The indictment followed a guilty plea by Manafort's longtime business associate, Rick Gates.

The indictment accuses Manafort of paying the former politicians, informally known as the "Hapsburg group," to appear to be "independent" analysts when in fact they were paid lobbyists. Some of the covert lobbying took place in the U.S.

The indictment says the group was managed by a former European chancellor. Court papers accuse Manafort of using offshore accounts to pay the group more than 2 million euros.

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3:05 p.m.

President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman is maintaining his innocence after his longtime business associate pleaded guilty to federal charges.

Paul Manafort says in a statement that the plea by Rick Gates on Friday does not change his commitment to defend himself against what he calls "untrue piled up charges." Manafort says he had "hoped and expected" that Gates would have "the strength" to continue to trial. He says Gates chose to plead guilty for "reasons yet to surface."

Gates has pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and false statements charges in the special counsel's Russia investigation.

The plea is a strong indication that Gates is planning to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation as it continues to probe the Trump campaign, Russian election interference and Manafort.

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