Mueller poised to reveal new details on Russia probe

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team could reveal new details in its ongoing probe into possible Russian collusion on Friday due to court filing deadlines involving President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former lawyer Michael Cohen.

Mueller's office has a Friday deadline to explain to the court why it accused Manafort of lying to investigators and breaking his cooperation deal, CNN reported.

Manafort's plea deal was thrown for a loop last week when Mueller's team accused the former campaign chairman of lying to them after he pleaded guilty to two conspiracy crimes and began cooperating with the Russia probe.

The Special Counsel must now explain exactly why it believes Manafort lied and what he lied about.

A spokesman for Mueller's office has said at least part of the Manafort memo would be made public.

Separately, the Special Counsel's office and federal prosecutors in New York have to provide memos to recommend a sentence for Cohen -- filings that are expected to detail how he has cooperated in multiple investigations.

Cohen's case took a twist last week when he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the extent of talks with Trump involving Trump Tower Moscow, which he had said ended in January 2016.

Discussions about the project went as late as June 2016, his plea revealed and Cohen said in court that he lied "out of loyalty to Individual-1", a reference to Trump.

The memos from Mueller come the same week that the Mueller's office said in court on Tuesday that Trump's former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn provided "substantial assistance" to the Special Counsel's office and should not receive jail time, CNN reported.

On Friday, former FBI Director James Comey will testify behind closed doors before the House Judiciary and Oversight committees for a Republican-led probe into the origins of the agency's Russia investigation.

Also Friday, George Papadopoulos -- the first person to plead guilty in the Mueller probe -- is being released from prison after serving a two-week sentence.

--IANS

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