Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team and attorneys for Paul Manafort engaged in an unsuccessful round of plea negotiations to head off a trial next month for charges he is facing in D.C., the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The discussions took place as a jury deliberated charges that Mueller brought against Manafort in Virginia, according to the Journal. The talks fell through due to issues raised by Mueller, according to one of the Journal’s sources.
In the Virginia trial, Manafort was convicted of eight counts and the jury was deadlocked on 10 others. That case focused on tax fraud and bank fraud allegations. In D.C., Manafort is facing charges that he failed to disclose his foreign lobbying and was engaged in a money laundering conspiracy. It begins on September 17.