The deal, struck in Washington just days before Manafort was to have faced a second trial, is tied to Ukrainian political consulting work and unrelated to the Trump campaign. The Associated PressThe question remains what information Manafort, 69, is able to provide about the president, as well as whether the Trump election effort coordinated with Russia. Manafort had long resisted the idea of cooperating even as prosecutors stacked additional charges against him in Washington and Virginia. Trump had saluted that stance, publicly praising him and suggesting Manafort had been treated worse than gangster Al Capone. But the guilty plea spares Manafort the cost of a weekslong trial that could have added years to the prison time he's already facing following the Virginia guilty verdicts.

Source: ABC News September 15, 2018 04:11 UTC