Paul Manafort, Special Counsel Mueller tussle over Ukrainian op-ed

FILE PHOTO: Paul Manafort, campaign manager to Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump, escapes a mob of reporters asking about the Republican National Convention Committee on Rules in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. July 14, 2016. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo

(Reuters) - President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort did not violate a court gag order when he helped edit an opinion piece about his political work in Ukraine, his defence lawyer Kevin Downing argued in a court filing on Thursday.

A federal grand jury indicted Manafort and his business associate Rick Gates in October as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into accusations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.