Lawyers for Paul Manafort, the convicted former campaign chairman for President Donald Trump, denied in court papers that he broke his plea agreement by lying to prosecutors when he was supposed to be cooperating.
The filing came Wednesday as Manafort's legal team seeks to limit the damage caused by special counsel Robert Mueller's claims that the political strategist lied about five matters during a dozen debriefings with prosecutors.
"A fair reading" of Mueller's claims does not support the conclusion that Manafort "intentionally provided false information," according to the filing. Many of the events described by Mueller "occurred years ago, or during a high-pressure U.S. presidential campaign he managed when his time was extraordinarily limited, or during the difficult time that followed his departure" from the 2016 campaign.