Judge Amy Berman Jackson said that turning over the identities will aid the defense in preparing for the trial set for Sept. 17. | Alex Wong/Getty Images Judge orders Mueller to identify unnamed figures in Manafort indictment

A federal judge has ordered special counsel Robert Mueller to identify by Friday all the individuals and organizations involved in former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's alleged scheme to lobby on behalf of Ukraine without registering as a foreign agent under U.S. law.

Among the people Mueller will be required to identify to the defense are top European former politicians who took part in the influence campaign, as well as others whose testimony Manafort has been accused of trying to influence in recent months. Manafort's alleged effort to shape the accounts of those people led to two new felony obstruction of justice charges last week.


The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson Tuesday represents a rare courtroom win for Manafort's defense, which is battling Mueller's prosecutors in two different federal courts and faces two looming jury trials.

Prosecutors resisted the defense motion, but the judge's decision is not likely to be significant since many of the names are well known to the defense and have been reported in the media.

For instance, former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and former Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer have acknowledged some involvement in paid lobbying work for Ukraine. However, they have said they were not paid by Manafort.

The witness-tampering claims prosecutors leveled at Manafort last week also pointed to the involvement in the lobbying campaign of individuals connected to a European public relations and TV production firm, FBC Media.

Playbook PM Sign up for our must-read newsletter on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Jackson did not order Mueller's team to make public the identities of the individuals and companies involved, who are often referred to by pseudonyms in the indictment and other court filings. She simply told prosecutors to give that information to Manafort's attorneys.

However, that list—once turned over—will effectively cabin the government's case on the foreign-lobbying issue since prosecutors will be likely be unable to present evidence about businesses or people not on it.

The judge said that turning over the identities will aid the defense in preparing for the trial set for Sept. 17.

"While the government may be correct that the law does not necessarily require the Court to order the requested disclosure, the Court has broad discretion to resolve a motion for a bill of particulars after weighing the parties’ interests, and here, defendant is obliged to prepare for a complex trial with a voluminous record within a relatively short period of time, and he should not have to be surprised at a later point by the addition of a new name or allegation," Jackson wrote.

Indictments often use pseudonyms for uncharged companies and people because of a Justice Department policy against naming unindicted co-conspirators in such documents. However, judges can order the disclosure of those names to the defense or to the public and the names often emerge during court hearings or at trial.

In the D.C. trial scheduled for September, Manafort faces charges of money laundering, failing to register as a foreign agent in connection with his Ukraine-related work, and obstruction of justice.

The veteran lobbyist and political consultant, 69, is also confronting another criminal case brought by Mueller in Alexandria, Va. That indictment includes charges of tax evasion, bank fraud and failing to report foreign bank accounts. Trial on those charges is set to begin July 25.

Manafort has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.