Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is accusing the government of leaking information to prejudice the two ongoing criminal cases against him.
Attorneys for Manafort wrote in a filing late Monday night in federal court in Alexandria, Va., that “numerous unidentified government officials” have put forth a “leaks” campaign.
“Government officials or agents intentionally provided false information to media outlets, knowing that the information would be widely reported and that the disclosures would unfairly prejudice Mr. Manafort in his efforts to defend himself,” said Kevin Downing and Thomas Zehnle in the filing.
“Such leaks impugn the character of the individual under investigation and substantially undermine a fundamental principle of our judicial system; ie, the right of the defendant to have the case determined by an impartial jury on the facts,” they wrote.
Manafort has been charged by special counsel Robert Mueller in Virgnia with bank fraud and filing false tax returns, among other charges. Manafort has pleaded not guilty to those charges, as well as those brought against him by Mueller in federal court in Washington.
Manafort’s defense asked Judge T.S. Ellius III to schedule a hearing on May 25 to compel Mueller’s team to address the “leaks.”
Downing and Zehnle also demand an investigation, which they say “could be done expeditiously.”
The two attorneys cited stories from the New York Times, CNN, NBC, the Associated Press, BuzzFeed, and the L.A. Times as a “small sampling” of media outlets they claim have published leaked information since charges were first brought against Manafort 16 months ago.
The request was filed at the same time the New York Times published a list of questions President Trump could face from Mueller’s team of prosecutors. One of those questions is: “What knowledge did you have of any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia about potential assistance to the campaign?”
Ryan Goodman, a law professor at New York University and former special counsel to the general counsel of the Department of Defense, described the Manafort question as the “most interesting” on the leaked list, and cited a CNN story from last year that said U.S. intelligence had intercepted Russians relaying conversations they had with Manafort “encouraging help from the Russians.”
Big Reminder
1. Most interesting Mueller Q is on “any outreach by…Paul Manafort to Russia about potential assistance to the campaign”
2. Recall CNN scoop Aug’17:
US intelligence intercepted Russians relaying “conversations with Manafort, encouraging help from the Russians”: pic.twitter.com/0hvxXqHj90
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) May 1, 2018
Manafort faces trial in Virginia in July and in Washington in September, and has pleaded guilty to both sets of charges.
He and his defense are set to appear in the Alexandria court Friday on a series of motions arguing that the case against him should be dismissed because the charges against him are outside the special counsel’s scope.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is overseeing the case against the former Trump campaign chairman in Washington, dismissed the civil case brought by Manafort in which he also argued Mueller had exceeded the scope of his investigation.
