Trump’s ex-aide Manafort pleads not guilty in Russia probe, faces trial

WASHINGTON, Mar. 2 — Paul Manafort, former campaign chairman of
U.S. President Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to new charges
levied against him in the probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016
election and will face trial in September.

Manafort’s formal plea of not guilty came during a brief hearing in a
Washington federal court regarding a second indictment accusing him of
acting as an unregistered foreign agent and directing an international
money-laundering conspiracy stemming from his political work in Ukraine.
It’s Manafort’s first court appearance since his longtime business
associate Rick Gates, also a former Trump campaign aide, pleaded guilty and
cut a deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the Russia
probe. In court, Judge Amy Berman Jackson reprimanded Manafort for making a
public statement about Gates’ plea last week, saying the statement violated
a gag order she put in place early in the case.Jackson set the trial to
start on Sept. 17 in Washington D.C. It is expected to stretch for several
weeks and even through the U.S. midterm elections in early November.

The new charges filed Friday in Mueller’s Russia probe said Manafort, with
the help of Gates, used offshore accounts to wire more than 2 million euros
(about 2.5 million U.S. dollars) to unnamed former senior European
politicians in 2012 and 2013 on behalf of the then pro-Russia government of
Ukraine. The superseding indictment came hours after Gates pleaded guilty
to charges of conspiracy against the United States and making false
statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and pledged to cooperate
with Mueller in the ongoing Russia probe. In a statement prior to Friday’s
indictment, Manafort said he continued to maintain his “innocence” and that
Gates’ plea would not alter his commitment to defending himself against
“the untrue piled up charges.”

Manafort and Gates were originally indicted in October on charges of
conspiracy and fraud stemming from their lucrative lobbying work in
Ukraine, a case that arose out of Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s
role in the election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. So
far, none of the charges against them made reference to alleged Russia
meddling nor accusations of collusion between Moscow and Trump’ campaign.
Manafort alone was indicted in October on 12 counts related to unlawful
financial dealings. The authorities at the time said Manafort laundered
more than 18 million dollars. Trump has vigorously denied allegations of
collusion between his campaign and Moscow during the election. The Russian
government has also repeatedly dismissed the accusations of interference.
So far, Mueller has charged nearly 20 people as part of his inquiry. Former
Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn and former campaign foreign
policy aide George Papadopoulos have each pleaded guilty to one count of
lying. – XINHUA