A mysterious new issue has emerged in the D.C. case of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
A heavily redacted court filing unsealed in the case on Wednesday suggests that former Manafort associate Rick Gates revealed new evidence to the special counsel investigation that may help his convicted former boss in the sentencing phase of the case.
Gates appears to have told prosecutors something relevant to a lie that Judge Amy Berman Jackson found Manafort to have told regarding his communications with Konstantin Kilimnik, a former associate of Manafort and Gates in Ukraine who used to work for Russian military intelligence.
“The government does not believe that this new evidence should affect the Court’s ruling that Manafort lied with respect to the subject matter area in general or its finding that Manafort lied REDACTED,” prosecutors write in the filing.
Mueller appears to be arguing that Berman Jackson should not change her earlier ruling that Manafort lied in light of Gates’s new statement, but nonetheless feels compelled to give the judge a chance to consider the new evidence.
A footnote in the filing suggests that Gates came forward with the “new evidence” following news coverage of Manafort’s breach of his plea deal. Specifically, the transcript of a Feb. 4 hearing in the Manafort case shed light on how the former Trump campaign chair was said to have lied to the special counsel.
“A a result of media coverage of the breach litigation, Gates (through counsel) provided information to the SCO about REDACTED,” the footnote reads. “The government thereafter met with Mr. Gates on February 15 to debrief him.”
Prosecutors added four separate exhibits to the filing, all of which are fully redacted.
Manafort pleaded guilty in the case and is awaiting sentencing next month.
