Trump inauguration team ordered to turn over documents

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Prosecutors in Manhattan have ordered the Trump inaugural committee to hand over documents relating to how the team raised and spent over $100m (£77m).

The subpoena requests a wide range of data regarding who donated to the inauguration, whether they were non-US citizens, and how the money was spent.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told CNN on Tuesday that the order has “nothing to do with the president”.

The subpoena, which has not been made public, does not allege any wrongdoing.

“We have just received a subpoena for documents,” a spokeswoman for the Trump inaugural committee told US media.

“While we are still reviewing the subpoena, it is our intention to co-operate with the inquiry.”

According to federal election law, foreign nationals are prohibited from donating to a US inaugural committee.

Inauguration chairman Tom Barrack Jr greets Mike Pence before Mr Trump’s swearing-in ceremony

The investigation is separate from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of possible Trump campaign ties to Russia, an investigation that has led to several indictments and guilty pleas.

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The subpoena from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office comes grew out of the campaign finance prosecution of Michael Cohen, President Trump’s ex-personal lawyer.

The investigation into Cohen, who is due to begin a prison sentence next month after implicating Mr Trump, arose from a referral from Mr Mueller’s team to New York prosecutors.

According to ABC News, prosecutors are also requesting information about who attended inaugural events as Mr Trump was sworn into office in January 2017 and whether they were promised photo-ops with the president-elect, ABC News reports.

Tom Barrack Jr, a real-estate developer and close friend of the president who served as chairman of the inaugural committee, is not named in the documents.

The only man named is Imaad Zuberi, a former fundraiser for Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton whose company gave $900,000 to the committee.

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A spokesman for Mr Zuberi said he had given “generously and directly” to the inaugural committee, but added that many others donated “substantially more”.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Mr Zuberi had several conversations with Cohen about access to inaugural events.

In 2014, Mr Zuberi registered as a lobbyist for Sri Lanka.

Failed redaction reveals Paul Manafort’s ‘lies to FBI’

Paul Manafort resigned as chair of President Trump’s election campaign after two months

 

Details of former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort’s alleged lies to investigators have been revealed in improperly redacted new court filings.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team accused him of lying about interactions with Konstantin Kilimnik, an alleged Russian operative, the papers say.

Manafort’s lawyers argue in the filings he did not break his plea deal because he never meant to mislead anyone.

Mr Mueller is investigating alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

In August, Manafort, 69, was convicted of financial fraud relating to his work as a political consultant in Ukraine, which pre-dated his role with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

He accepted a plea deal on his other charges in exchange for co-operating with Mr Mueller’s inquiry. The Mueller team accused him in November of breaking that deal by lying to investigators.

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The redaction errors in Manafort’s rebuttal show prosecutors believed he had lied about sharing 2016 polling data with Mr Kilimnik, as well as meeting him in Madrid and discussing Ukrainian politics while Manafort was managing the Trump campaign.

Manafort’s lawyers have argued he provided truthful information to the best of his ability at the time.

The details about Manafort’s alleged falsehoods come just as Russian lawyer Natalya Veselnitskaya, who famously attended a meeting with top Trump aides in 2016, was charged in a separate obstruction of justice case.

Additionally, the US Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against a mystery foreign company for defying a grand jury subpoena related to the special counsel’s inquiry.

Manafort managed the Trump campaign for five months in 2016, during the time Mr Trump clinched his party’s nomination

What did we learn from the documents?

The redaction mishap by Manafort’s team allowed anyone to view the text beneath blacked out sections of the online documents when they became public on Tuesday.

In those sections, Manafort’s lawyers say he “conceded” having possibly discussed a Ukraine peace plan with Mr Kilimnik on more than one occasion.

Manafort also “acknowledged” having met Mr Kilimnik “after being told” that the two were both in Madrid on the same day.

The lawyers said Ukraine-related matters “simply were not at the forefront of Mr Manafort’s mind during the period at issue”.

“It is not surprising at all that Mr Manafort was unable to recall specific details prior to having his recollection refreshed,” Manafort’s team wrote.

“The same is true with regard to the Government’s allegation that Mr Manafort lied about sharing polling data with Mr Kilimnik related to the 2016 presidential campaign.”

The documents also reveal that prosecutors accused Manafort of lying about his contact with administration officials after Mr Trump took office.

Manafort had previously said “he did not believe that he had any direct or indirect communications” with any officials while they served in the administration.

Mr Mueller’s team said Manafort had had a conversation with an unnamed individual who wanted “to use Mr Manafort’s name as an introduction” if they ever met President Trump, according to the filings.

Prosecutors also accused Manafort of telling a witness he “had contact” with another administration official.

Manafort’s lawyers responded that any such conversation did “not constitute outreach by Mr Manafort to the President” and said the prosecution’s second example was “hearsay”.

Who is Konstantin Kilimnik?

Mr Kilimnik was considered Manafort’s right-hand man in Ukraine and has been accused by the special counsel of conspiring to obstruct justice.

The Russian citizen was a long-time employee of Manafort’s political consulting firm and had done extensive lobbying work for him in Ukraine on behalf of the country’s then pro-Russian President, Viktor Yanukovych.

Mr Kilimnik has denied allegations that he has ties to Russian intelligence.

Donald Trump: “I feel very badly for Paul Manafort”

What’s next?

Manafort will not ask for a hearing regarding the prosecution’s accusations, according to the filings.

His lawyers reminded the court that Manafort had been co-operative and had no motive to lie, having voluntarily offered his electronic devices and communications to the government.

The ex-Trump aide had been hoping for leniency at his 5 March sentencing under the plea deal.

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If he is found to have intentionally lied to the FBI, the government could seek a tougher sentence – including a maximum of life in prison.

CNN: Former Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort Was Wiretapped

CNN is reporting investigators wiretapped Donald Trump’s former campaign chair Paul Manafort both before and after the 2016 election, including during periods when Manafort spoke by phone with President Trump. CNN reports the FBI sought and won a FISA warrant from a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 2014 and later got a second warrant that extended at least into early this year. The FBI also reportedly conducted a search of a storage facility belonging to Manafort. He is a key figure in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 U.S. election and whether Trump officials colluded with Russian officials to sway the outcome.