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Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort will co-operate with the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, a dramatic turnaround in a probe that the U.S. President derides as a political witch hunt.

After months of refusing to assist Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russian interference and possible co-ordination between Trump campaign members and Moscow, Mr. Manafort finally took a plea deal on Friday and agreed to co-operate in return for reduced charges. Mr. Trump had previously praised Mr. Manafort in an Aug. 22 Twitter post as “a brave man” for his refusal to co-operate with the inquiry.

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Defence attorney Kevin Downing departs following a plea agreement hearing for his client, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, ahead of a trial on a range of charges stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election at U.S. District Court in Washington on Sept. 14, 2018.KEVIN LAMARQUE/Reuters

It is unclear what information Mr. Manafort, a long-time Republican political consultant who ran the campaign as it took off in mid-2016, could offer prosecutors but his co-operation might bring Mr. Trump, his family and associates under closer scrutiny.

The White House distanced Mr. Trump from the man who helped get him elected in November, 2016, against the odds in a bitterly contested campaign in which he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.

“This had absolutely nothing to do with the president or his victorious 2016 presidential campaign,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement. “It is totally unrelated.”

Cornell University law professor Jens David Ohlin said it was hard to predict what information a co-operation agreement will yield but that Mr. Manafort’s deal could be a serious problem for Mr. Trump.

“If Manafort is willing to give Mueller information about Trump’s contacts with Russia, whether the contacts were direct or indirect, then this really is a disaster for Trump and his associates.”

Mr. Manafort is the fifth person linked to Mr. Trump to plead guilty to criminal charges. The others are his former long-time personal lawyer Michael Cohen, former campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, Mr. Trump’s first national security adviser Michael Flynn and Mr. Manafort’s business protégé Rick Gates, who also worked on the 2016 campaign.

Mr. Manafort, 69, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Washington on Friday to conspiracy against the United States – a charge that includes a range of conduct from money laundering to unregistered lobbying – and conspiracy to obstruct justice for his attempts to tamper with witnesses in his case. The prosecution dropped five other counts.

The plea, coming on the heels of a conviction in a separate case last month, concludes a steep fall from grace for a multimillionaire who was often at Mr. Trump’s side as he took U.S. politics by storm in 2016. The investigation has cast a shadow over the President going into the Nov. 6 congressional elections that will determine whether Republicans keep control of Congress.

Mr. Mueller’s team told the court that Mr. Manafort had previewed what information he could offer, leading to the deal. The plea agreement requires him to co-operate completely with the government, including giving interviews without his attorney present and testifying before any grand juries or at any trials.

Mr. Manafort is facing up to 10 years in prison on the two charges in Washington alone, and another eight to 10 years on a conviction in Virginia in August on tax and bank fraud charges.

But depending on the extent of his co-operation and the degree to which prosecutors argue for reducing his sentence, Mr. Manafort could end up getting anywhere from a year to five years in prison, according to Mark Allenbaugh, a federal sentencing expert. “It would not surprise me if he got time served for both cases,” he said.

Mr. Manafort was convicted last month in Virginia on charges that predated his stint on the Trump campaign and involved his work with pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine. The jury found that he hid from U.S. tax authorities US$16-million he earned as a political consultant in Ukraine to fund an opulent lifestyle and lied to banks to secure US$20-million in loans.

U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort will cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian election meddling as part of a plea deal, prosecutors told a federal court in Washington on Friday.

Reuters

Turnaround

In court on Friday, Mr. Manafort stood stock still before the judge, answering her questions with single words in a low tone, or sat at the defense table. He sat straight or leaned his chin on his right hand throughout a lengthy recital of the charges to which he pleaded guilty.

Mr. Manafort made millions of dollars working in Ukraine before taking an unpaid position with Mr. Trump’s campaign for five months.

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who is representing Mr. Trump in the Russia probe, said Mr. Manafort co-operating with Mr. Mueller was not a problem for his client.

“He knows nothing harmful to the president and the plea is the best evidence of that,” Mr. Giuliani told Reuters.

Mr. Manafort was present at a June, 2016, Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer at which his son expected to receive possibly damaging information about election opponent, Ms. Clinton. Mr. Trump’s critics have pointed to the meeting as evidence of the collusion with Russia that Mr. Trump denies.

Later in 2016, Mr. Manafort oversaw the Republican National Convention that nominated Mr. Trump for the presidency. During the convention, the party’s platform on Ukraine was altered in a way that made it more in line with Russian interests.

Mr. Trump has the power to issue a presidential pardon for Mr. Manafort on federal charges. The President has not said whether he would do so.

Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann walked the court through Mr. Manafort’s efforts over a decade to influence power brokers in Washington without acknowledging that he was being paid tens of millions of dollars from pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, a disclosure required by law.

“Mr. Manafort engaged in a variety of criminal schemes. He did so knowingly, intentionally and willfully,” Mr. Weissmann said.

The plea agreement requires Mr. Manafort to forfeit millions of dollars worth of real estate, including a mansion in the Hamptons, a Brooklyn brownstone and an apartment in Trump Tower in Manhattan.

“He’s accepted responsibility,” Mr. Manafort’s lawyer Kevin Downing said outside the courthouse.”He wanted to make sure that his family was able to remain safe and live a good life.”

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