Prosecutors: Paul Manafort tried to coach witnesses in criminal case

Michael James | USA TODAY

The FBI says that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort attempted to tamper with witnesses — even going so far as to allegedly coach their testimony — in a federal tax and lobbying case against him.

A team of prosecutors working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller allege in court papers that Manafort and one of his associates “repeatedly” contacted two witnesses in an effort to influence their testimony. The contacts occurred while Manafort was under house arrest, the FBI wrote in one court filing.

The two witnesses are not named in court filings. But prosecutors say they worked with Manafort in organizing a group of former European officials who lobbied within the U.S. without registering.

"Manafort and Person A — who is a longtime associate of Manafort’s — repeatedly contacted Persons D1 and D2 in an effort to secure materially false testimony," according to a motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

At one point, Manafort sent an encrypted text message to one of the witnesses, saying "This is Paul" and that "We should talk," the court filing alleges.

An associate of Manafort reached out to one of the witnesses to inform the person that "My friend P is trying to reach (a witness) to brief him on what's going on . . . Basically P wants to give him a quick summary that he says to everybody (which is true) that our friends never lobbied in the U.S."

The witness told investigators that he "understood" that Manafort was reaching out to influence the testimony of potential witnesses, according to court papers.

Mueller’s team is asking a federal judge to hold a hearing to decide whether to revoke Manafort’s release. Manafort faces several felony charges in two federal cases. He has pleaded not guilty.

Paul Manafort accuses Robert Mueller team member of leaking to press Former Campaign Chairman for president Trump Paul Manafort is claiming that a prosecutor working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team is leaking details of an investigation to the press.

Manafort faces trial in July on charges of fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars in bank loans. He also faces a separate September trial in Washington related to his work for a pro-Russia political faction in Ukraine. At a hearing in March, a federal judge ordered him to submit to additional electronic monitoring as a condition of his release in Virginia.

Manafort was indicted in October on nine counts, including conspiracy to defraud and commit offenses against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, failure to file reports of foreign bank accounts, making false and misleading statements, and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign principal.

The news of Manafort's latest troubles is already spreading on Capitol Hill.

While @realDonaldTrump and his lawyers roll out increasingly tenuous legal theories about pardons and subpoenas, the investigations into the Trump campaign move ahead undeterred. #ProtectMueller https://t.co/wPaa0Itgjp — (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) June 5, 2018

United States District Judge T.S. Ellis III had ordered that Manafort would only be permitted to leave his Alexandria home to confer with his lawyers, for medical emergencies and once-a-week religious services. On occasion, he has been allowed to travel outside of Virginia, including to attend the recent funeral of his father-in-law in New York.

In the Virginia case, prosecutors allege that Manafort funneled millions of dollars in income from their work in Ukraine into foreign bank accounts, which were concealed from U.S. tax authorities.

Prosecutors assert that Manafort "used his overseas wealth to enjoy a lavish lifestyle in the United States, without paying taxes on that income."

More: Legal defense fund launched for Paul Manafort, a millionaire

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