Incarcerated former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was first warned about possibly violating federal lobbying laws in 1987, undercutting his legal team's claim he wasn't aware of such laws while working for pro-Kremlin politicians in Ukraine decades later, special counsel Robert Mueller charged in a court filing Wednesday.
Manafort, who faces charges of conspiracy against the U.S., money laundering and wire fraud, in addition to potential lobbying violations, was dinged by the Justice Department on May 29, 1987, that "political activities undertaken as background or to prepare for a proposal or a piece of legislation" must be disclosed and registered as mandated by the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Mueller said in the filing.
Manafort, who worked for his eponymous Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly lobbying firm at the time, had registered as an agent for the Saudi Arabian government, signaling he was aware of FARA requirements.
However, the Justice Department had discovered 18 lobbying and other public relations activities for foreign governments that had not been reported by Manafort.
"These omissions included memoranda summarizing lobbying by Manafort of Congress and the White House regarding a 'Jerusalem Bill' and a 'Saudi Arms package,' dissemination of press articles to Congress, lobbying of the National Security Council, and talking points 'for phone calls on pending Saudi munitions sale,'" Mueller said.
A spokesman for Manafort, 69, declined to comment. No charges were filed against Manafort for his alleged FARA violations in the 1980s.
Manafort's lawyers have asked Washington, D.C., U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson to toss the FARA violation charges Mueller filed against him over his lobbying work for ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in the 2000s. The lawyers have argued the charges aren't valid because they say Manafort wasn't aware of the statutes requiring him to register.
The former Trump campaign chief, who has been behind bars since last month, faces his first trial in Virginia on July 25 on bank fraud charges.
He separately faces a trial in Washington, D.C., which is slated to start this fall.
Nearly all of the charges brought against Manafort relate to lobbying work he did for Yanukovych, who lives in exile in Russia and is wanted in his home country for high treason.
Manafort has maintained his innocence.
President Donald Trump has tried to separate himself from his beleaguered ex-campaign head in recent months. Meanwhile, Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has hinted the Mueller investigation could get "cleaned up" with some presidential pardons once it's finally over.
