Unsealed transcript: DC Judge pushes back decision on whether Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort intentionally lied to investigators

A sealed hearing for Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, is still set for this Wednesday, February 13 in the Washington, D.C. courtroom of Judge Amy Berman Jackson. But instead of taking place at 9:30 a.m. eastern time, it has been moved back to 1:30 p.m. eastern time, according to a February 12 court filing.

On Twitter, BuzzFeed News’ Zoe Tillman posted a copy of the filing and reported, “The judge is set to announce her findings about whether Manafort intentionally lied to investigators, per the unsealed transcript from the last sealed hearing.”

Manafort is among the many Trump associates who has either been convicted of felony charges in federal court or pled guilty to them as a direct or indirect result of Russiagate. On August 22, 2018,Manafort was convicted of eight criminal charges—including tax fraud and bank fraud—and a second trial was scheduled to begin in September, with Judge Jackson (a Barack Obama appointee) presiding.

Manafort was facing additional felony charges in the second trial, ranging from obstruction of justice to money laundering. But the second trial never came about. Manafort agreed to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation in exchange for leniency. However, the plea deal fell apart when Mueller alleged that Manafort had breached it by repeatedly lying to his team of investigators.

It was Judge Jackson who, in June 2018, revoked Manafort’s bail for allegedly trying to coach witnesses in his case.