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Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort secretly met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange several times, months before 2016 election

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><header id&equals;"top" class&equals;"top full-columns">&NewLine;<div id&equals;"f0uKO7l2i5Xv9r" class&equals;"wrapper clearfix full pb-feature pb-layout-item pb-f-article-header" data-pb-name&equals;"Article Header" data-pb-curated&equals;"curated">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card-content align-left">&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"spaced spaced-xl spaced-top spaced-bottom"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Former Trump campaign chairman secretly met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange months before 2016 US election<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"spaced spaced-xl spaced-top spaced-bottom"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Paul Manafort is accused of lying to federal investigators in the Russia probe in breach of his plea agreement<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"spaced spaced-xl spaced-top spaced-bottom"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Manafort allegedly paid secret visits to Julian Assange at Ecuadorian embassy in London shortly before Trump hired him as campaign manager<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"spaced spaced-xl spaced-top spaced-bottom"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Menafort&comma; 69&comma; also reportedly met with the WikiLeaks founder in 2013&comma; 2015 and 2016<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"spaced spaced-xl spaced-top spaced-bottom"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;"><strong>Fed prosecutors are fighting a request to unseal an apparent criminal complaint against Julian Assange<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"spaced spaced-xl spaced-top spaced-bottom"><strong><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">Wikileaks denies prior contacts with Menafort occurred&comma; bets &dollar;1million the meetings never happened &&num;8211&semi; called the article  &&num;8216&semi;the most infamous news disaster since the &&num;8220&semi;Hitler Diaries&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;strong>&&num;8216&semi;<&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"spaced spaced-xl spaced-top spaced-bottom"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">Manafort&comma; in jail since prosecutors discovered he had attempted to witnesses tampering in his case&comma; has denied lying to prosecutors<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"spaced spaced-xl spaced-top spaced-bottom"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">On Monday Mueller&&num;8217&semi;s team said Manafort &&num;8216&semi;committed federal crimes&&num;8217&semi; by lying about &&num;8216&semi;a variety of subject matters&&num;8217&semi; even after he agreed to truthfully cooperate with the investigation&period; <&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"spaced spaced-xl spaced-top spaced-bottom"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">Prosecutors said they will detail the &&num;8216&semi;nature of the defendant&&num;8217&semi;s crimes and lies&&num;8217&semi; in writing at a later date to the judge&period;<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"spaced spaced-xl spaced-top spaced-bottom"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">Both sides however&comma; now agree they can&&num;8217&semi;t resolve the conflict&comma; requested District Judge Amy Berman Jackson should set a date to sentence him<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"spaced spaced-xl spaced-top spaced-bottom"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;000000&semi;">Manafort&comma; has remains jailed since he pled guilty in Sept to conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice&comma;  to head off a second trial after being convicted last summer of eight felony counts related to millions of dollars he hid from the IRS in offshore accounts<&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;header>&NewLine;<section id&equals;"left" class&equals;"left guttered width-100">&NewLine;<div id&equals;"fVbNp012i5Xv9r" class&equals;"wrapper clearfix full pb-feature pb-layout-item pb-f-article-body" data-pb-name&equals;"Article Body &lpar;Elements&rpar;" data-pb-curated&equals;"curated">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"collection collection-cards">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<h6 data-page&equals;"1"><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-301995" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;Paul-Manafort-4&period;jpeg" alt&equals;"Paul Manafort 4&period;jpeg" width&equals;"1400" height&equals;"932" &sol;>Caught in the cross-hairs&colon; Paul Manafort&comma; President Trump&&num;8217&semi;s former campaign chairman&comma; is accused of lying to feds in Russia probe in breach of his plea agreement<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p data-page&equals;"1">The woes of former Washington political maverick Paul Manafort&comma; whose last job aided in ushering Donald Trump into the White House appear to be deepening &comma; threatening the plea deal he made with Special Counsel&comma; Robert Mueller&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Trump&&num;8217&semi;s former campaign chairman&comma; is accused of lying to federal investigators in the Russia probe in breach of his plea agreement&period; He also reportedly met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange&comma; according to a report&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The embattled political operative allegedly met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange around the time he was appointed to his high-profile post running Trump’s presidential campaign&comma; according to a report Tuesday&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>Manafort&comma; 69&comma; held a private conversation with Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London in March 2016&comma; just months before WikiLeaks published thousands of emails stolen from Democrats by Russian hackers&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;theguardian&period;com&sol;us-news&sol;2018&sol;nov&sol;27&sol;manafort-held-secret-talks-with-assange-in-ecuadorian-embassy" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">The Guardian<&sol;a> reported&period; His visit was not logged with guards as is typical for such face-to-face meetings&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Paul Manafort visited WikiLeaks&&num;8217&semi; founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London on at least three occasions in 2013&comma; 2015 and 2016&comma; The Guardian reports&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;His last visit took place &&num;8216&semi;around March 2016&&num;8217&semi;&comma; months before WikiLeaks published tens of thousands of Democrat Party emails hacked by Russian intelligence&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;President Trump hired Manafort to run his White House bid the same month&period;Manafort&comma; who was hired by President Trump on March 29&comma; 2016&comma; has denied The Guardian &&num;8216&semi;s claims he visited Assange&comma; calling them &&num;8216&semi;100 per cent false&&num;8217&semi;&period;&ZeroWidthSpace; &&num;8211&semi; Manafort&comma; who was hired by President Trump on March 29&comma; 2016&comma; has denied The Guardian &&num;8216&semi;s claims he visited Assange&comma; calling them &&num;8216&semi;100 per cent false&&num;8217&semi;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-301996" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;Julian-Assange-3&period;jpeg" alt&equals;"Julian Assange 3&period;jpeg" width&equals;"1400" height&equals;"1057" &sol;><strong>Federal prosecutors are fighting a request to unseal an apparent criminal complaint against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange &lbrack;photo&rsqb;&period; The Guardian cited an internal document written by Ecuador’s Senain intelligence agency&period; The publisher&&num;8217&semi;s hosts listed Manafort and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Russians” as guests of Assange&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>Both Manafort and Assange denied the report&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Remember this day when the Guardian permitted a serial fabricator to totally destroy the paper’s reputation&comma;” Wikileaks tweeted shortly after the publication of the report&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;&lbrack;Wikileaks&rsqb; is willing to bet the Guardian a million dollars and its editor’s head that Manafort never met Assange&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>Assange has been living at the Ecuadorian embassy since seeking political asylum in 2012&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>According to The Guardian&comma; Manafort met with Assange in both 2013 and 2015&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>The report comes a day after special counsel Robert Mueller said in court papers that Manafort lied to investigators and violated his recent plea deal&period; It’s unclear what Manafort lied about&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-301997" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;Wikileaks-tweet-on-Guardian-story&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Wikileaks tweet on Guardian story&period;jpg" width&equals;"667" height&equals;"808" &sol;>Fighting back&colon; WikiLeaks tweeted that the Guardian&&num;8217&semi;s sources were &&num;8216&semi;serial fabricators&&num;8217&semi; and that they would &&num;8216&semi;bet the Guardian &dollar;1 million dollars that Manafort never met Assange&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>Special Counsel Robert Mueller&&num;8217&semi;s committee is investigating the longtime Trump associate as part of a larger probe into Russian election meddling and possible coordination between the President’s campaign and the Kremlin&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>The Guardian cited an internal document written by Ecuador’s Senain intelligence agency&comma; which lists Manafort and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Russians” as guests of Assange&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>Manafort is currently serving time in a Virginia jail after his August conviction of bank and tax fraud stemming from Mueller’s probe&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>Trump surrogate and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani has stated that Trump knew nothing of the alleged clandestine meeting between Manafort and Assange when he hired the 69-year-old GOP consultant&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I don’t know about it and if I don&&num;8217&semi;t know about it&comma; he doesn’t know it&comma;” Giuliani claims&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The President knows very little of Julian Assange&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>Giuliani also said the President hasn’t ruled out pardoning Manafort&comma; although he stressed there hasn&&num;8217&semi;t been any recent discussions on the matter&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Pardons are never really ruled out&comma;” Giuliani said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>Trump has railed against the special counsel probe since Mueller’s appointment last year&comma; often calling the investigation a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;witch hunt” and a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;hoax&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>Mueller has reportedly been investigating possible contacts between WikiLeaks and a slew of Trump associates including Roger Stone and his eldest son&comma; Donald Trump Jr&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>Stone&comma; who reportedly recommended Trump hire Manafort and tweeted out cryptic notes during the lead up to the election&comma; has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly said publicly he had no knowledge of where the Democratic emails came from&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>On Tuesday&comma; he further denied any knowledge of Manafort&comma; his onetime business partner&comma; and Assange meeting one-on-one&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This is the first I have heard about it and I have no idea whether or not it is true&comma;” Stone said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-301999" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;Donald-Trump-8&period;png" alt&equals;"Donald Trump 8" width&equals;"703" height&equals;"455" &sol;><strong>Did he know&quest; President Trump &lbrack;photo&rsqb;&comma; hired Manafort to mann his campaign around the time of the latter&&num;8217&semi;s  final visit to the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in London around March 2016&&num;8242&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>Mueller has been interviewing Stone associates for months&period; Conspiracy theorist and Stone pal Jerome Corsi said Monday he is rejecting a plea deal from the special counsel’s office and expects to be indicted&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"card collection-item" data-type&equals;"text">&NewLine;<div class&equals;" card-content ">&NewLine;<p>Assange&&num;8217&semi;s WikiLeaks released thousands of emails which had been obtained by Russian secret service operatives by hacking the Democrat Party communications&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Manafort&&num;8217&semi;s final visit reportedly took place &&num;8216&semi;around March 2016&&num;8217&semi;&comma; the same month he was hired by President Donald Trump&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Meanwhile&comma; special counsel Robert Mueller is accusing Manafort of violating his plea agreement by repeatedly lying to federal investigators&comma; an extraordinary allegation that could expose him to a lengthier prison sentence &&num;8211&semi; and potentially more criminal charges&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The torpedoing of Manafort&&num;8217&semi;s plea deal&comma; disclosed in a court filing Monday&comma; also results in special counsel Robert Mueller&&num;8217&semi;s team losing a cooperating witness from the top of Trump&&num;8217&semi;s presidential campaign who was present for several key episodes under investigation&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;That includes a Trump Tower meeting involving Donald Trump Jr&period; and a Russian lawyer he was told had derogatory information on Democrat Hillary Clinton&period; The move signals a return to the acrimonious relationship Manafort has had with the special counsel&&num;8217&semi;s office since his indictment last year&period; Before his plea agreement&comma; Manafort aggressively challenged the special counsel&&num;8217&semi;s legitimacy in court&comma; went through a bitter trial and landed himself in jail after prosecutors discovered he had attempted to tamper with witnesses in his case&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><strong><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-301998" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;11&sol;Paul-Menafort-5&period;png" alt&equals;"Paul Menafort 5" width&equals;"667" height&equals;"428" &sol;>Special counsel Robert Mueller is accusing Manafort&comma; &lbrack;photo&rsqb;&comma; of violating his plea agreement by repeatedly lying to federal investigators&period; Manafort is currently serving time in a Virginia jail after his August conviction on bank and tax fraud &&num;8211&semi; fallout of Mueller<&sol;strong><strong> probe&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">The current claims were published as an apparent criminal complaint against Assange is the subject of a federal court hearing in Virginia&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Free-press advocates want a judge to unseal the complaint after prosecutors in an unrelated case inadvertently mentioned charges against Assange&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Prosecutors oppose the motion&comma; arguing that the public has no right to know whether a person has been charged until there has been an arrest&period; The government also says the accidental reference to charges against Assange does not mean he has actually been charged&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Manafort&comma; who was hired by President Trump on March 29&comma; 2016&comma; has denied the claims he visited Assange&comma; calling them &&num;8216&semi;100 per cent false&&num;8217&semi;&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Manafort was jailed this year and was thought to have become a star cooperator in the Mueller inquiry&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In the latest filing&comma; Mueller&&num;8217&semi;s team said Manafort &&num;8216&semi;committed federal crimes&&num;8217&semi; by lying about &&num;8216&semi;a variety of subject matters&&num;8217&semi; even after he agreed to truthfully cooperate with the investigation&period; Prosecutors said they will detail the &&num;8216&semi;nature of the defendant&&num;8217&semi;s crimes and lies&&num;8217&semi; in writing at a later date to the judge&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Through his attorneys&comma; Manafort denied lying&comma; saying he &&num;8216&semi;believes he provided truthful information&&num;8217&semi; during a series of sessions with Mueller&&num;8217&semi;s investigators&period; He also disagreed that he breached his plea agreement&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Both sides however&comma; now agree they can&&num;8217&semi;t resolve the conflict&comma; and U&period;S&period; District Judge Amy Berman Jackson should set a date to sentence him&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Manafort&comma; who remains jailed&comma; had been meeting with the special counsel&&num;8217&semi;s office since he pled guilty in September to conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice&period; He cut that deal to head off a second trial after being convicted last summer of eight felony counts related to millions of dollars he hid from the IRS in offshore accounts&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Both cases stemmed from his Ukrainian political work and undisclosed lobbying work he admitted to carrying out in the U&period;S&period; in violation of federal law&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;section>&NewLine;

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