Manafort Will Cooperate In Mueller Probe: Plea Deal

WASHINGTON, DC — Paul Manafort has agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department, including in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to a court filing. Manafort, President Trump's former campaign manager, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against the U.S and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice due to attempts to tamper with witnesses.

The scope of the cooperation was not immediately clear.

Prosecutors will drop the five remaining charges in federal court against Manafort, including money laundering, tax fraud, failing to disclose foreign bank accounts, violating federal foreign lobbying law and lying to the Department of Justice.

Manafort admitted to the actions alleged in those charges.

The deal allows Manafort to avoid trial on charges stemming from consulting work he did for pro-Russia political forces in Ukraine. The charges did not relate to Russian interference.

A trial could have added another seven to 10 years to the prison sentence he is already facing from his conviction last month in Virginia on eight counts of tax evasion, failing to report foreign bank accounts and bank fraud. Jurors deadlocked on 10 other counts.

Prosecutors had been prepared to detail political consulting and lobbying work Manafort did in 2014 for then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and the pro-Russian Party of Regions.

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The Associated Press contributed reporting.

(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)