Manafort Asks Judge to Dismiss Tax Count in Virginia Case

(Bloomberg) -- Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman to President Donald Trump, asked a judge to dismiss one of several tax counts against him in a Virginia indictment.

Manafort, 69, sought dismissal Monday of a count accusing him with failing to file a foreign bank and financial accounts report, or FBAR, for 2011. Manafort's attorneys said prosecutors didn't charge him within the required five-year period. He's also charged with not filing FBARs for 2012 to 2014, filing false tax returns and bank fraud.

He's separately charged in Washington with laundering millions of dollars and failing to register as a foreign agent for the Ukrainian government. He's pleaded not guilty and faces two trials. A hearing will be held May 25 on Manafort's motion.

In the Virginia case, Manafort has also asked the judge to dismiss the entire indictment, claiming that Special Counsel Robert Mueller went too far by investigating crimes beyond Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. He claims that Mueller exceeded his May 2017 appointment order to investigate coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, as well as “any matters that arose or may arise directly” from his probe.

Last week, a judge in Washington dismissed a civil lawsuit that Manafort filed using similar arguments. In that case, the judge said Manafort should save that reasoning for his criminal case.

The cases are U.S. v. Manafort, 18-cr-83, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria), and U.S. v. Manafort, 17-cr-201, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).

To contact the reporter on this story: David Voreacos in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey D Grocott at jgrocott2@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wollman, Peter Blumberg

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