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Paul Manafort may have struck a deal with Robert Mueller

President Trump’s ex-campaign chair Paul Manafort tentatively agreed to a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller that will head off his upcoming second trial, ABC News reported Thursday.

The feds were expected to announce the agreement in court Friday, but it remained uncertain whether the international man of intrigue had agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the Russia probe.

The network said Manafort could be pleading guilty to avoid the stress and expense of a second trial following his conviction in Virginia on tax fraud and money laundering charges.

He already faced a possible sentence of life behind bars before the second trial began in Washington, DC, where juries tend to be less conservative than in suburban Virginia.

Manafort and his top lawyers spent more than four hours Thursday in discussions with a team of Mueller’s special prosecutors who are neck deep in the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the US election and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign.





ABC said that a reporter saw Manfort’s team arriving in a dark SUV Thursday morning at the building where Mueller is based.

The veteran GOP operative was charged by the special counsel in Washington, DC, nearly a year ago with multiple counts of fraud and failing to register as a foreign agent.

In Virginia, Manafort was found guilty on eight counts out of an 18-count indictment after a lone juror held out on the other 10 counts.





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