This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort shared polling data on the 2016 election with a Russian man linked to Moscow’s intelligence agencies, according to special counsel Robert Mueller.

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Manafort, 69, is also accused of covering up other meetings and contacts with the Russian, an elusive consultant named Konstantin Kilimnik who worked for Manafort on election campaigns for pro-Kremlin politicians in eastern Europe.

Attorneys for Manafort disclosed the allegations in a court filing in Washington on Tuesday. They appeared in sections of the filing that were meant to be redacted, but where text underneath blacked-out lines could be copied and viewed.

A spokesman for Manafort’s team did not respond to a message asking if the faulty redactions were accidental. The document was later refiled to court with effective redactions.

Mueller, who is investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and any coordination with Trump’s team, said in a court filing last year that the FBI assesses that Kilimnik “has ties to a Russian intelligence service and had such ties in 2016”.

Kilimnik, 48, trained at a university connected to Russia’s military intelligence agency, formerly known as the GRU, which allegedly spearheaded the Kremlin’s effort to disrupt the US election in 2016. The US has concluded that the Russian operation was ordered by President Vladimir Putin to help Trump’s campaign.

Mueller has also previously said that Rick Gates, Manafort’s deputy on the Trump campaign, described Kilimnik as “a former Russian intelligence officer with the GRU”, which Kilimnik denies.

In the court document made public on Tuesday, Manafort’s attorneys denied allegations that the former Trump aide lied to Mueller’s team about several topics since he began cooperating with the inquiry. They blamed his false statements on a failure to recall certain details and his lack of access in jail to records that could jog his memory.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Robert Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 US election, and links between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

In a section of their filing meant to have been redacted, the attorneys referred to an allegation from Mueller that Manafort “lied about sharing polling data with Mr Kilimnik related to the 2016 presidential campaign”. They did not elaborate.

Manafort’s attorneys did not deny that Manafort gave Kilimnik the data, instead stating that he had not lied about it but was merely “unable to recall specific details prior to having his recollection refreshed”.

The attorneys also confirmed that Manafort had met Kilimnik in Madrid, claiming he “had not initially remembered” the meeting but recalled it when confronted with records showing the two were in the Spanish capital at the same time.

It was previously known that Kilimnik and Manafort had met twice during 2016 in the US. The date of the Madrid meeting was not stated, but a source familiar with Manafort’s team said it was in early 2017 after Trump had entered office.

Manafort’s attorneys also said on Tuesday that when presented with other records by Mueller’s team, he conceded “he discussed or may have discussed a Ukraine peace plan with Mr Kilimnik on more than one occasion”.

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Investigators have been looking into whether Trump associates took any action relating to Russia’s 2014 military intervention in Ukraine, and subsequent US sanctions against Moscow. Trump advisers reportedly worked to broker a backchannel deal for Trump to lift the sanctions around the time he entered office.

Kilimnik was reported in February 2017 to be working on a Ukraine peace plan but denied Manafort was involved.

Tuesday’s filing was Manafort’s response to allegations from Mueller that he had continued to lie to investigators even after signing a cooperation agreement. The alleged lies led Mueller to tear up the deal, under which prosecutors would have recommended a reduced prison sentence for crimes Manafort has admitted.

Manafort was also accused of lying about contacts with Trump administration officials since they entered office in January 2017. His attorneys said on Tuesday he had not intentionally lied and was asked only about his contacts with two specific administration officials.

In another poorly redacted section, the attorneys said Mueller specifically alleged Manafort was in contact with someone who asked him permission to use Manafort’s name “as an introduction” in the event that the person met the president.

A second alleged contact with a Trump official was based on “hearsay purportedly offered by an undisclosed third party”, according to Manafort’s attorneys.

They also disclosed on Tuesday that Mueller had discovered several additional contacts between Manafort and the administration, which they described as “mostly indirect”.

Mueller alleged that Manafort also lied about a $125,000 payment from a pro-Trump “super Pac”, a payment he variously described as a reimbursement for money he was owed, payment for work he did, and a loan. Manafort’s team on Tuesday blamed confusion about how the money was recorded by his accountants.