Russian-Ukrainian political operative was at Trump inauguration -filing

A former business partner of Paul Manafort who has been accused by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller of having ties to Russian intelligence attended the inauguration of President Donald Trump, according to a court transcript released on Thursday. Russian-Ukrainian political operative Konstantin Kilimnik met with Manafort, who was Trump's presidential campaign chairman, in January 2017 when he was in the U.S. capital for Trump's inauguration, according to the transcript of a Feb. 4 court hearing in a federal court in Washington.

The closed hearing was held so the judge could weigh evidence supporting allegations by Mueller's office that Manafort had lied to prosecutors - including about his interactions with Kilimnik - in breach of a plea agreement. According to the transcript, Mueller's team accused Manafort of lying about how many times he had discussed an unspecified topic with Kilimnik. Among other times, they said Manafort and Kilimnik had discussed the topic "in January 2017, in person, in Washington, D.C., when Kilimnik was here for the inauguration."

While certain portions of the transcript are redacted, judging by previous court filings the topic at issue appears to be a "Ukrainian peace plan" that Kilimnik and Manafort allegedly discussed at several points in 2016 and 2017. (Reporting by Nathan Layne in New York Editing by James Dalgleish)