Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has made clear to Paul Manafort’s attorneys that they believe the former Trump campaign chair is lying to them about President Donald Trump, according to the President’s attorney Rudy Giuliani.
“In the questioning of Manafort, they did tell them at the time that they believed he was lying about certain things related to us that he’s not lying about,” Giuliani told CNN.
Mueller’s team will describe to a federal court on Friday the alleged lies told by Manafort that led to the disruption of the cooperation agreement. The filing will be closely read for any indications of what Mueller has learned in the investigation of Russian interactions with Trump associates.
Giuliani said he is not sure this information will show up in the special counsel’s Friday filing.
According to Giuliani, investigators told Manafort they don’t believe that the President did not know about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting that Manafort attended with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and a Russian attorney who had promised dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Giuliani, who received this information from Manafort’s attorneys, accused Mueller’s team of crossing the line by trying to force Manafort to say Trump knew about the meeting.
“They repeated that conduct over and over and over again which gives us a clear indication of what they want him to say in order to get him out of solitary confinement. I find that abominable,” said Giuliani.
Giuliani said he only has limited insight into what Manafort told Mueller. Manafort’s lawyers only share with Trump’s team information that relates to the President.
The special counsel’s office declined to comment on Giuliani’s assertions. Manafort’s attorneys also declined to comment.
UPDATE: This story has been updated with the special counsel’s office and Manafort’s attorneys declining to comment.
