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Monday, November 26, 2018

Ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort broke plea deal, lied to prosecutors, Mueller says

Federal prosecutors for special counsel Robert Mueller allege that Paul Manafort lied to investigators, according to a Monday court filing.

"After signing the plea agreement, Manafort committed federal crimes by lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Special Counsel's Office on a variety of subject matters, which constitute breaches of the agreement," prosecutors said in the filing.

The special counsel has asked the judge to sentence Trump's former campaign chairman, saying Manafort violated his plea agreement.

A spokesman for the special counsel did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

In September, Manafort cut a deal with Mueller's team and agreed to plead guilty to charges related that he was engaged in a conspiracy involving money laundering, tax fraud, failing to report foreign bank accounts, violating rules requiring registration of foreign agents, lying and witness tampering.

Prosecutors said that under the terms of the deal, Manafort was required to be "fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly" cooperative with the government. The filing said that agreement stipulated that if Manafort failed to meet his obligations, the government would be relieved of its obligations. That would include its agreement to reduce sentencing guidelines in exchange for acceptance of responsibility.

Manafort, meanwhile, "believes believes he has provided truthful information and does not agree with the government's characterization or that he has breached the agreement," according to the filing.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

— CNBC's Dan Mangan and Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report.

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