The project, which they referred to as the Hapsburg Group, ran from 2011 through 2014, and was funded with $2.4 million steered by Mr. Manafort from overseas bank accounts, according to prosecutors. Mr. Prodi has repeatedly said he was not aware of the involvement of Mr. Manafort or the existence of the Hapsburg Group. Mr. Manafort did not initially register under the act, and he is charged with lying to the Justice Department about his activities. Instead of engaging with Mr. Manafort or Mr. Kilimnik to coordinate their stories about the Hapsburg Group’s work, the two former associates turned on their former colleagues. The associates — who are not named by the special counsel, but whom three people familiar with the project identified as Alan Friedman and Eckart Sager — informed the special counsel of the outreach, leading to allegations of witness tampering and Friday’s obstruction charges.

Source: New York Times June 08, 2018 18:14 UTC