Special Counsel Robert Mueller accused former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort and his Ukrainian assistant of tampering with witnesses.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, has charged former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort and his aide Konstantin Kilimnik with obstruction of justice.

The charges stem from their association with two witnesses in the Manafort case who were not named in the indictment . According to Mueller's team, Manafort and Kilimnik contacted witnesses by phone and messenger in February and April 2018.

According to the Associated Press, witnesses said Manafort and Kilimnik tried to get them to lie about the nature of their joint work in Ukraine.

• Paul Manafort led Donald Trump's campaign in the summer of 2016. He left this post after it became known about his many years of cooperation as a lobbyist with the Ukrainian Party of Regions. It was also reported about his connections with Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska.
• In October 2017, Manafort and his business partner Rick Gates were indicted on 12 counts, including tax evasion and money laundering. The charges concerned Manafort's lobbying activities. He was placed under house arrest .
• Manafort and Gates were charged as part of an investigation into possible ties between Trump's circle and Russia, led by former FBI chief Robert Mueller. In January 2018, Manafort sued him, saying that Mueller had overstepped his authority by bringing charges against him because they were connected to Ukraine, not Russia.
• In March 2018, Mueller's team said that during the 2016 election campaign, Gates was in contact with a person with ties to Russian intelligence. The New York Times reported that this is Ukrainian Konstantin Kilimnik. According to Radio Liberty, in 2005-2015 he headed the Kiev office of Manafort, and before that he worked as a translator in Russian military structures. Kilimnik himself denies ties to Russian intelligence.