Mueller says Manafort breached plea deal by lying. Manafort’s Lawyer Said to Brief Trump Attorneys on What He Told Mueller.

POLITICO & NY TIMES

-- Paul Manafort’s lawyer repeatedly briefed Trump’s attorneys on the former campaign chairman’s discussions with special counsel Bob Mueller’s team. The New York Times’s Michael S. Schmidt, Sharon LaFraniere and Maggie Haberman report: “The arrangement was highly unusual and inflamed tensions with the special counsel’s office when prosecutors discovered it after Mr. Manafort began cooperating two months ago ... Some legal experts speculated that it was a bid by Mr. Manafort for a presidential pardon even as he worked with [Mueller] in hopes of a lighter sentence. Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of the president’s personal lawyers, acknowledged the arrangement on Tuesday and defended it as a source of valuable insights into the special counsel’s inquiry and where it was headed. Such information could help shape a legal defense strategy, and it also appeared to give Mr. Trump and his legal advisers ammunition in their public relations campaign against Mr. Mueller’s office.

“While [Manafort’s lawyer Kevin] Downing’s discussions with the president’s team violated no laws, they helped contribute to a deteriorating relationship between lawyers for Mr. Manafort and Mr. Mueller’s prosecutors, who accused Mr. Manafort of holding out on them despite his pledge to assist them in any matter they deemed relevant ... That conflict spilled into public view on Monday when the prosecutors took the rare step of declaring that Mr. Manafort had breached his plea agreement by lying to them about a variety of subjects. … Though it was unclear how frequently he spoke to Mr. Trump’s lawyers or how much he revealed, his updates helped reassure Mr. Trump’s legal team that Mr. Manafort had not implicated the president in any possible wrongdoing.”

 Why Manafort sought out Julian Assange in 2013 is unclear. Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA

-- Manafort reportedly visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange around the time he joined Trump’s campaign, according to the Guardian’s Luke Harding and Dan Collyns: “Sources have said Manafort went to see Assange in 2013, 2015 and in spring 2016 — during the period when he was made a key figure in Trump’s push for the White House. In a statement, Manafort denied meeting Assange. He said: ‘I have never met Julian Assange or anyone connected to him. I have never been contacted by anyone connected to WikiLeaks, either directly or indirectly. I have never reached out to Assange or WikiLeaks on any matter.’ … Manafort’s 2016 visit to Assange lasted about 40 minutes, one source said … Visitors normally register with embassy security guards and show their passports. Sources in Ecuador, however, say Manafort was not logged.” Assange also denied Manafort visited.

Jerome Corsi speaks during an interview in New York on Tuesday. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

-- Mueller’s prosecutors filed a draft court document alleging conservative author Jerome Corsi provided Trump ally Roger Stone with early knowledge about WikiLeaks’s planned email dumps. Carol D. Leonnig, Rosalind S. Helderman and Manuel Roig-Franzia report: “Corsi emailed Stone about WikiLeaks’s plans nearly 10 weeks before the group published [Clinton campaign chairman John] Podesta’s hacked emails in October, according to the document, which was prepared by [Mueller’s] team as part of plea negotiations with Corsi that have collapsed. ‘Word is friend in embassy plans 2 more dumps. One shortly after I’m back. 2nd in Oct. Impact planned to be very damaging,’ Corsi wrote in the email quoted in the draft document, referring to [Assange] … The email continued: ‘Time to let more than [Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta] to be exposed as in bed w enemy if they are not ready to drop [Clinton]. That appears to be the game hackers are now about.’

“The draft filing … provides a remarkable look at the case Mueller is building related to WikiLeaks and the most detailed allegations yet that a key associate in Trump’s orbit was provided advance knowledge of the group’s plans. … Stone, who has long denied coordinating with WikiLeaks, reiterated that denial Tuesday. ‘None of the emails cited prove I had advance notice of the source or content of either allegedly hacked or allegedly stolen emails published by WikiLeaks,’ he wrote in a text message to The Post. ‘When did political gossip become a criminal activity? More importantly these emails provide no evidence that I received any materials from WikiLeaks or Assange or Corsi or anyone else and passed them on to Donald Trump or the Trump campaign or anyone else.’”

-- Legal analysts said Mueller’s loss of two potential cooperating witnesses — Manafort and Corsi — would likely harm but not destroy his investigation. Matt Zapotosky reports: “Manafort probably will never take the stand as [Mueller’s] star witness. And Mueller’s prosecutors might have to plow deeper into the world of WikiLeaks and its contacts to determine what, if any, coordination occurred between the Trump campaign and Russia over the release of emails. That probably will leave Mueller disappointed but undeterred.”