Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort appeared in Alexandria, Virginia federal court on Thursday and entered a plea of not guilty to an 18-count indictment as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
The judge set the trial to begin July 10.
Thursday marked Manafort’s first appearance in the Virginia federal court – where the special counsel’s team filed his 18-count indictment last month on charges of money laundering and tax evasion among others.
Late last month, Manafort pleaded not guilty to a five-count revised indictment filed by the special counsel team in Washington D.C. federal court. The judge in that case set Manafort’s trial to begin on Sept. 17.
Manafort’s longtime business partner, Rick Gates, pleaded guilty to a dramatically-reduced set of charges in federal court late last month in exchange for his cooperation with Mueller’s probe. As part of Gates’ plea deal, he now faces just two felony counts provided he cooperates fully with special counsel investigators.
