U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson concluded that Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, made intentional false statements about his communication with Konstantin Kilimnik, a translator tied by Mueller to Russian intelligence, according to a transcript of a sealed hearing released Friday. Manafort’s contacts with Kilimnik are “at the undisputed core” of Mueller’s investigation into whether anyone in Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russian meddling with the 2016 election, Jackson said at a Feb. 13 court hearing, according to the transcript. Kiliminik “doesn’t have to be in the government or even be an active spy to be a link” to Russia, yet she didn’t have enough information to decide if he’s a spy, she said.
