Judge rules that trump’s ex-aid Paul Manafort lied to prosecutors

Donald Trump's former election campaign chief Paul Manafort breached his plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller by lying to prosecutors, a US judge says.

US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that Manafort "made multiple false statements" to the FBI, Mueller's office and a grand jury.

The lies, including about meetings with a suspected Russian intelligence asset, were about issues intimately linked to Mueller's wider inquiry, which includes a look into whether there were any links or coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian election interference effort.

Mueller leads a probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.

Manafort has pleaded guilty to some charges, avoiding a separate trial.

He was convicted of financial fraud in August, relating to his work as a political consultant in Ukraine.

He then accepted a plea deal on other charges in return for co-operating with Mueller's investigation.

Mueller has yet to provide any proof of a conspiracy or cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russians, despite obtaining convictions and guilty pleas from a string of the President's former associates.

But Wednesday's developments will be seen in an even more foreboding light given the multiple lies, changes of story and obfuscations offered by other Trump confidants about contacts with Russian officials or private citizens.

These include former national security adviser Michael Flynn's calls with then-Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak, Donald Trump Jr.'s shifting story about a meeting with Russians promising "dirt" on Hillary Clinton and the President's own misrepresentations about a proposed construction project in Moscow.

None of these activities are necessarily illegal, making it even more difficult to understand why there was an apparent need to cover them up.

The judge's ruling represents a personal tragedy for Manafort, 69, once a high-flying uber-lobbyist in an ostrich skin jacket who racked up millions in consulting fees and huge debts before joining Trump's team.

The verdict means that Manafort - who has been held in a detention center in Virginia since June - could now potentially face harsher sentences or have charges against him re-filed.5