Manafort's lawyers demand hearing on the Justice Department's off-the-record meeting with four reporters, claiming it prompted 'improper leaks' to the

superbeets · Jul 9, 2018

[h=2]Manafort's lawyers demand hearing on the Justice Department's off-the-record meeting with four reporters, claiming it prompted 'improper leaks' to the press and led to the criminal charges against him[/h]

Paul Manafort's lawyers are targeting a meeting Justice Department prosecutors had with AP reporters last year in their latest argument to defend Manafort in Robert Mueller's investigation.

superbeets · Jul 9, 2018

[h=2]Manafort's lawyers demand hearing on the Justice Department's off-the-record meeting with four reporters, claiming it prompted 'improper leaks' to the press and led to the criminal charges against him[/h]

The meeting took place in April 2017
Manafort's team cites two new memos from FBI agents on the meeting as proof there was a possible conduit for improper leaks to the press
Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager, is fighting federal charges in two different courts as a result of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation
The memos indicate the bulk of the information exchanged at the meeting was from the AP reporters to the FBi

superbeets · Jul 9, 2018

Paul Manafort's lawyers are targeting a meeting Justice Department prosecutors had with four Associated Press reporters last year in their latest argument to defend President Donald Trump's former campaign manager against multiple federal charges.
Manafort is fighting indictment in two federal courthouses as a result of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 election.
His legal team is arguing the meeting on April 11, 2017, which was off-the-record, was a possible conduit for improper leaks to the press about the investigation which resulted in two criminal cases against Manafort, Politico reported.
The meeting came about a month before Mueller's appointment as special counsel, which occurred on May 17, 2017.

To boost their case, they filed in federal court Friday two memos written by FBI agents who attended the meeting and documented their version of it.
Manafort's legal team claims the memos confirm the reporters were given inside information about the investigation in violation of Justice Department policies and, perhaps, legal prohibitions on what can be disclosed out a grand jury investigation.
'The meeting raises serious concerns about whether a violation of grand jury secrecy occurred,' Manafort's lawyers wrote in their filing. 'Now, based on the FBI's own notes of the meeting, it is beyond question that a hearing is warranted.'
Manafort has been charged under Mueller's probe and has plead not guilty in both cases. He's scheduled for trial in Washington D.C. in September and in Alexandria, Va., in July on felony counts that include conspiracy, bank and tax fraud, money laundering and failing to register as a lobbyist in his work before 2014 on behalf of Ukraine's pro-Russian president at the time, Viktor Yanukovych.
He formally registered as a lobbyist for the Ukraine in June 2017, after his work for that country was revealed.

One of the FBI memos indicates the AP did get some information at the meeting: a vague assurance that they 'appeared to have a good understanding of Manafort's business dealings,' one memo says, according to Politico.
However, the memos indicate the bulk of the information exchanged at the meeting was from the AP reporters who gave the FBI a bevy of facts the news organization uncovered during its inquiries into Manafort's work and finances.
The meeting took place a day before the AP published a story saying that Manafort received at least some payments ascribed to him or his companies in a so-called black ledger of off-the-books spending by Yanukovych.

Reporters sometimes give government agencies a heads-up on forthcoming stories that could significantly affect an investigation, but the details in the FBI memos show the AP provided numerous details to the Justice Department about their investigation.
There is also a time lag between the memos and the meeting.
One of the memos is dated about three weeks after the meeting, and the other is dated a full month later.
The memos also show that one of the AP journalists discussed with the FBI a storage unit in Alexandria, Virginia, that Manafort used to keep records of his business dealings.
Whether or not the AP gave the FBI the code to the unit is under debate as one of the memos said the reporter wouldn't hand over those details and the Associated Press said earlier this month the reporters did not give a storage unit number to the Justice Department.
FBIa agent Jeff Pfeiffer, who wrote one of the memos, testified last week the tip from the AP may have led to discovery of the locker, although he said may have heard about the storage site before the meeting with the AP.

The FBI later found a Manafort aide who led them to the storage unit. After looking in it with the aide, the FBI got a search warrant to seize many of the records.
An AP spokeswoman did not respond to Politico's requests for comment.
The Associated Press reported on Pfeiffer's testimony when it occurred at the end of June.
In a statement at the time that appeared in that AP story, Associated Press spokeswoman Lauren Easton said that AP journalists 'met with representatives from the Department of Justice in an effort to get information on stories they were reporting, as reporters do. During the course of the meeting, they asked DOJ representatives about a storage locker belonging to Paul Manafort, without sharing its name or location.'

superbeets · Jul 9, 2018

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Manafort's lawyers are targeting a meeting Justice Department prosecutors had with four Associated Press reporters last year in their latest argument to defend President Donald Trump's former campaign manager