Paul Manafort Can't Ghostwrite Any More Op-Eds About Case: Judge

WASHINGTON, DC — Former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who stands accused of money laundering and other financial crimes related to his political consulting work in Ukraine, received a slap on the wrist Monday from a federal judge who said he shouldn't be trying his case in the press. That includes ghostwriting opinion essays published in other countries.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson told Manafort that his editing of an op-ed that appeared in a Ukrainian newspaper was not something she would tolerate. The warning came after special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutors discovered Manafort edited an op-ed published in the Kyiv Post last week. The article appeared under the name of a former Ukraine official and discussed Manafort's consulting work in the country, which is at the heart of the case against him.

Manafort and prosecutors are barred from making public statements about the case.

Manafort allegedly worked on the op-ed essay with a longtime colleague who was "assessed to have ties" to a Russian intelligence service, according to court papers filed by prosecutors. Manafort and the colleague sought to publish the op-ed under someone else's name and hoped to sway public opinion about his work in Ukraine, prosecutors said. Manafort is currently under house arrest. Prosecutors did not name the colleague but noted the person is based in Russia.

"Even if the ghostwritten op-ed were entirely accurate, fair, and balanced, it would be a violation of this Court's November 8 Order if it had been published," the prosecutors wrote. "The editorial clearly was undertaken to influence the public's opinion of defendant Manafort, or else there would be no reason to seek its publication (much less for Manafort and his long-time associate to ghostwrite it in another's name)."

They added, "It compounds the problem that the proposed piece is not a dispassionate recitation of the facts."

Manafort has denied any wrongdoing related to his work in Ukraine.

You can read the full court filing here.

Photo credit: Susan Walsh/Associated Press