Trump’s ex-campaign manager Manafort pleads not guilty to criminal charges

President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty on Thursday to a range of criminal charges, including bank fraud and filing false tax returns. Manafort had faced more than 30 extra charges as part of U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into the alleged Russian interference and possible collusion between Trump and Russia in the 2016 US election. The charges come in addition to the original 12-count indictment of Manafort in October 2017, which related to money-laundering and failure to register as a foreign agent. Although the indictment comes from Mueller, none of Manafort’s charges relate to Russia or alleged interference in the US election. A federal judge set July 10, 2018, as the trial date.