Special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors filed evidence late Friday afternoon to demonstrate that Paul Manafort violated a court-mandated gag order by contributing to an op-ed defending himself in a Ukrainian newspaper.
In a 41-page filing, prosecutors argue that Manafort, who is on trial for charges including money laundering and failing to file as a foreign agent, spent half an hour editing a column defending him written by former Ukrainian official Oleg Voloshyn.
The op-ed, published over Mueller’s objections in the Ukrainian Kyiv Post, condemns American media who “falsely claim that Paul Manafort lobbied Russian interests in Ukraine” in service of the “dubious goal of undermining Trump’s presidency.”
Mueller’s prosecutors argue that Manafort’s work on the op-ed violates the order Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued in November, when she ordered all parties to “refrain from making statements to the media or in public settings that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case.”
They have not sought additional charges related to the violation, but are using it to argue Manafort should remain under house arrest, where he has been detained since October 30.
Manafort’s lawyers, on the other hand, argued Thursday afternoon that the special counsel was attempting to restrict his constitutional right to free speech and that Manafort was simply trying to “correct the public record in Ukraine concerning his consulting activities in Ukraine.”
“In the special counsel’s view, Mr. Manafort is apparently never allowed to set the factual record straight,” his lawyers said. “Nor is he allowed to openly maintain his innocence. He must simply remain silent while his reputation is battered, and potential jurors in this district might be tainted.”
Prosecutors responded by saying the court was within its rights to restrict parties from arguing their case in the media to prevent “the creation of a ‘carnival atmosphere.’”
The filing was part of a mammoth trove of evidence prosecutors provided to the defense on Friday, the fourth batch of documents released by Mueller including, in all, more than 400,000 items.
