Special counsel Robert Mueller has brought new obstruction charges against U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign chairman and a long-time associate who prosecutors have said has ties to Russian intelligence.
The indictment was unsealed on Friday against Paul Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik just days after prosecutors accused the two men of attempting to tamper with witnesses as Manafort awaits trial on charges related to his foreign lobbying work.
The latest charges increase Manafort’s legal jeopardy if he continues an aggressive battle with prosecutors, and could be an effort by Mr. Mueller to induce a guilty plea and secure the testimony of a critical campaign adviser to Mr. Trump.
Unrelated to campaign
The charges do not relate to Manafort’s work on the Trump campaign or involve allegations of Russian election interference, a fact that Mr. Trump has routinely noted as he tried to distance himself from his former top campaign adviser.
On Friday, Mr. Trump also dismissed any talk of pardoning Manafort or his long-time personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who is under investigation by federal prosecutors in New York. “They haven’t been convicted of anything. There’s nothing to pardon. It is far too early to be thinking about it,” Mr. Trump told reporters.
The new indictment charges Manafort and Kilimnik with obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice related to contacts they had with two witnesses earlier this year.
The witnesses, who had worked with Manafort as he represented a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine, have told the FBI that they believed Manafort and Kilimnik were trying to get them to lie about the nature of their work.
The charges mark the second time since his October indictment that Manafort has faced additional criminal charges. Through a spokesman, Manafort, 69, has maintained his innocence. The spokesman, Jason Maloni, said Friday that Manafort and his attorneys were reviewing the new charges.
Imprisonment possible
Kilimnik, 48, has previously declined to comment on the allegations and denied being connected to Russian intelligence agencies. Kilimnik, who prosecutors say lives in Moscow, was not in U.S. custody on Friday.
The new charges will factor heavily into whether U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson allows Manafort to remain on house arrest. Citing the allegations, prosecutors have asked Jackson to consider jailing Manafort. A hearing is set for next week.