Prosecutors accuse Manafort of witness tampering

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort tried to convince witnesses in his criminal case to lie about the extent of his work with Ukrainian political interests, federal prosecutors alleged in a court filing late Monday. Manafort faces charges of money-laundering conspiracy, false statements, and acting as an unregistered foreign agent for Ukrainian interests. Prosecutors say the two witnesses he tried to influence planned to testify that Manafort’s work extended into the United States and not just Europe, as his defense lawyers claim. Manafort allegedly contacted the witnesses through an encrypted messaging app and called them on the phone while on house arrest. The witnesses turned the messages over to prosecutors, who said the activity violated the judge’s order allowing Manafort to stay out of jail. This is the second time Manafort violated the terms of his house arrest: Late last year, investigators discovered Manafort attempted to ghostwrite an opinion piece in Ukraine despite a gag order in the case. Although special counsel Robert Mueller filed the charges against Manafort, none of his allegedly criminal activity related to the Trump campaign or Russia.