Former Trump campaign manager Manafort denies ghostwriting op-ed playing up Ukraine work
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY (BLOOMBERG) - US President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort denied on Thursday (Dec 7) that he ghostwrote an editorial with a longtime colleague tied to a Russian intelligence agency, as claimed by prosecutors in his money laundering and conspiracy case.
Earlier this week, prosecutors for Special Counsel Robert Mueller cited a draft editorial in arguing that Manafort violated a judge's order to not try the case in the press.
They said that Manafort, who is accused of working as an unregistered agent of Ukraine, secretly wrote the piece to put a positive spin on his political consulting work there. Prosecutors said Manafort's bail terms should be toughened because he breached trust.
In a court filing, Manafort's attorneys countered that Mr Oleg Voloshyn, a former spokesman for Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs under ex-President Viktor Yanukovych, wrote the op-ed piece, which was published on Thursday.
Manafort's lawyers said Mr Mueller's interpretation would unconstitutionally violate their client's "rights to defend himself and his reputation, and to correct the public record."
