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Politico: Manafort Lawyers Question Meeting Between DOJ, Reporters

Politico: Manafort Lawyers Question Meeting Between DOJ, Reporters
Paul Manafort (AP)

By    |   Sunday, 08 July 2018 06:08 PM EDT

Defense attorneys for Paul Manafort are requesting a hearing based on claims about an off-the-record meeting Justice Department prosecutors had with Associated Press reporters in April 2017, Politico reported Sunday.

Lawyers for Manafort say they have "fresh evidence" that supports their claims the meeting could have posed as a channel for improper leaks to the press about the investigation that ultimately resulted in two criminal cases against their client. Specifically, the evidence is two memos written by FBI agents in attendance at the meeting.

Manafort, who served four months as President Donald Trump's campaign manager, faces bank fraud and tax-related charges in one case being heard in federal court — charges stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into claims Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

In another case, Manafort faces federal charges of money laundering, acting as an unregistered agent of Ukraine and obstruction of justice. He denies wrongdoing in both cases.

Lawyers argue the Justice Department meeting gave journalists inside information about the investigation, against agency policies, as well as possibly divulging grand jury secrets. Manafort was indicted six months after the meeting in October 2017.

"The meeting raises serious concerns about whether a violation of grand jury secrecy occurred," Manafort's lawyers wrote in a filing Friday with U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis. "Now, based on the FBI's own notes of the meeting, it is beyond question that a hearing is warranted."

Reporters with AP did appear to come away with some information, according to one memo, but it also appeared there was a two-way exchange of information from journalists to federal agents as well, offering details the news outlet acquired in their research of Manafort.

One of the memos explained the meeting was "arranged" by Andrew Weissmann, who was at the time head of the fraud section of the DOJ Criminal Division. He is now the top prosecutor in Manafort's case. One of the memos was written about three weeks and the other a month after the meeting took place, the article explained.

The purpose of the meeting was for the FBI to "obtain documents from the AP reporters," according to one memo. There was no further information about FBI agents viewing or receiving any documents from reporters. There was also no information about who requested the memos be written.

Another revelation stated one reporter gave the FBI information on a storage unit where Manafort kept business records, even sharing a code number to access the unit. FBI agents did raid a storage facility belonging to Manafort in May 2017.

Journalism expert and University of Maryland professor Mark Feldstein said he was "surprised" a reporter would share an access code, saying it seemed "rather unorthodox, if the FBI memo is accurate in stating or implying that the AP reporters volunteered that information.

"Neither side is supposed to share confidential information with the other, but in fact each often does — perhaps to seek corroboration, perhaps to get other confidential information back in exchange or perhaps to spur on the other side's investigation," Feldstein added.

AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton did not comment on the FBI reports, but said last month, "Associated Press 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," she added.

A spokesman for Mueller's office declined to comment on the FBI memos or the April 2017 meeting.

Manafort faces trial on July 25 on bank fraud and tax charges. Originally confined to his home on a $10 million bond, last month the judge ordered him locked up for violating the terms of his release by allegedly tampering with a witness. Manafort is appealing the order locking him up.

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Defense attorneys for Paul Manafort are requesting a hearing based on claims about an off-the-record meeting Justice Department prosecutors had with Associated Press reporters in April 2017, Politico reported Sunday. Lawyers for Manafort say they have "fresh evidence" that...
paul manafort, fbi, department of justice, ap, meeting, reporters
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2018-08-08
Sunday, 08 July 2018 06:08 PM
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