Manafort is in big trouble.
We have a ruling.
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) February 13, 2019
Judge Amy Berman Jackson has decided that Paul Manafort “intentionally made multiple false statements to the FBI, the OSC and the grand jury concerning matters that were material to the investigation.” She especially noted the lies about Kilimnik.
JUST IN: Judge finds that MANAFORT intentionally made false statements to MUELLER after agreeing to cooperate & that "the Office of Special Counsel is no longer bound by its obligations under the plea agreement, including its promise to support a reduction of the offense level…" pic.twitter.com/UAZsPd6x0C
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) February 13, 2019
More from CNN:
Paul Manafort “intentionally” lied to special counsel Robert Mueller’s office, breaking the plea agreement that made him the star cooperator in the Russia probe, a federal judge found on Wednesday.
Manafort “made multiple false statements to the FBI, the OSC and the grand jury concerning matters that were material to the investigation,” including his contacts with his Russian associate during the campaign and later, Judge Amy Berman Jackson wrote on Wednesday.
Jackson’s ruling is another stunning turn in Mueller’s efforts to uncover Russian interference in the 2016 election, as the first man the special counsel indicted then pursued as a potential cooperator for a year sees the end of any benefits he tried to gain through a guilty plea.
Manafort was convicted of various financial crimes in August, and then cut the deal to plead guilty to two charges of conspiracy and witness tampering in September.
All I can say is that this is utterly bizarre. He’s going to be sent to prison for a loooong time and I just don’t see Trump helping him out. So what is the endgame here?
Some are connecting dots to say that he’s lying in order to cover up for Trump:
It's very hard to come up with a theory of Manafort et al's behavior that doesn't involve lying to cover up something quite sinister. He got caught in an *extremely* high stakes lie that's going to put him away for the rest of his life. Why?
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) February 13, 2019
But guess what, guys? It doesn’t matter what you think is true, it matters what you can prove. And so far, you got very little.