Russia probe: Manafort accused of lying, Papadopoulos goes to jail

US President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Robert Manafort, has been accused of lying to prosecutors after entering into an agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller to help him with a high profile probe into the current administration’s alleged “collusion” with Russia.

After avoiding the press for months, Mueller’s office said in a new court filing on Monday that Manafort had violated his plea agreement by lying to both Mueller and the FBI lied "on a variety of subject matters."

Manafort made millions of dollars working for Ukrainian politicians before he worked with Trump’s campaign for five months.

He was charged with eight counts from tax fraud to witness tampering in August. However, he only pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against the country and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice after striking a plea deal with Mueller in September.

Following Mueller’s filing of the three-page court statement, both sides ask the judge to now move Manafort's case toward sentencing.

Manafort denies that he lied, according to the filing.

"He believes he has provided truthful information and does not agree with the government's characterization or that he has breached the agreement," the court document says, according to CNN.

The prosecutors said even though Manafort had “breached” his plea agreement, he must still comply with the deal while no longer enjoying their premises of mercy.

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Manafort has been held at a Virginia jail since June, after he was accused of attempting to tamper with possible witnesses with help from Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russia-based political operative and one of Mnafort’s closest business contacts.

Despite being charged by Mueller, Kilimnik has so far refused to show up in US courts.

Former Trump aide jailed

Earlier on Monday, former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos began a two-week jail sentence Monday over lies he told to the FBI.

According to the Bureau of Prisons, he entered the minimum security unit of the Oxford, Wisconsin federal prison over a year after pleading guilty in one of the first cases brought by Mueller.

Papadopoulos is the second figure in the Mueller probe to be handed jail time after Alex Van Der Zwaan, a London lawyer who was given 30 days for lying about his work with Manafort.

Mueller has already indicted several Trump associates and more than a dozen Russians accused of meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign.

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US intelligence agencies claim Russia-linked hackers provided WikiLeaks with damaging information -- in the form of thousands of hacked emails -- about former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to skew the 2016 presidential election in favor of Trump.

Trump has repeatedly denied allegations that his campaign colluded with the Russians and has labeled Mueller’s investigation as a “witch hunt.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has also denied the allegations.

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