2016 ELECTION/PAUL MANAFORT/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Special counsel Robert Mueller said Friday [12-7-18] that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied about five major issues after agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors, including his ‘contact with administration officials.’ In a heavily redacted document, Mueller also said Manafort lied about his interactions with Konstantin Kilimnik. Mueller has said Kilimnik has ties to the Russian military intelligence unit accused of hacking the Democrats, and they’ve previously outlined how the two men may have worked together to tamper with witnesses following Manafort’s arrest last year. The accusations by Mueller add to growing signs that the special counsel’s team has a wealth of evidence about contacts between people close to Trump — even in the White House — and Russians during the 2016 campaign. The document also contains the stunning disclosure that Mueller can show, including with text messages, that Manafort was in contact with Trump administration officials early this year — even after he was indicted in late 2017. The new and damaging information for the White House comes at a time when every move by Mueller appears to bring his investigation deeper into the White House and Trump’s inner circle, and shows it has expanded well beyond what may or may not have happened in the 2016 campaign.”
–Katelyn Polantz and Marshall Cohen, “Mueller: Paul Manafort lied about contacts with Trump administration this year,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, December 7, 2018 8:21 am