A lawyer for a US&nbsp;Treasury Department employee charged with leaking to a journalist confidential documents on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and others, said on Friday that his client was motivated by public service.

Manafort and his longtime associate Rick Gates have pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to cooperate in US&nbsp;Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US&nbsp;election and whether President Donald Trump's campaign coordinated with Moscow.

Russia denies election meddling and Trump denies campaign collusion.

Prosecutors said Natalie Sours Edwards, a senior adviser in the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), leaked documents to a reporter that became the basis of articles about that investigation published by digital media company BuzzFeed.

"She saw things in her official capacity that she felt an obligation to bring forward," Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer for Sours Edwards, told reporters after a hearing in federal court in Manhattan.

During Friday's brief hearing, US&nbsp;Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn ordered that Sours Edwards may remain free on bail. She had previously pleaded not guilty at a hearing in Virginia, according to Agnifilo. She is currently on paid leave from her position.

Prosecutors said beginning in October 2017, Sours Edwards illegally disclosed so-called suspicious activity reports connected to Manafort, accused Russian agent Maria Butina, the Russian embassy and a unit of Prevezon Holdings Ltd, a corporation owned by Russian businessman Denis Katsyv.

Suspicious activity reports are submitted by banks to alert law enforcement to potentially illegal transactions.

Information from the disclosures was reported in 11 articles that appeared in BuzzFeed over the course of a year, prosecutors said.

Agnifilo said Sours Edwards shared the reports because "she believes that certain pieces of information were not being handled the right way and were not being brought to the attention of the people who should know it," though he did not give further details.

He said Sours Edwards had also spoken to committees in Congress and to other government agencies about her concerns, and that her contact with the media was a relatively small part of her efforts.

"It's been going on for several years," he said.

A lawyer for a US Treasury Department employee charged with leaking to a journalist confidential documents on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and others, said on Friday that his client was motivated by public service.

A lawyer for a US Treasury Department employee charged with leaking to a journalist confidential documents on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and others, said on Friday that his client was motivated by public service. Manafort and his longtime associate Rick Gates have pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to cooperate in US Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election and whether President Donald Trump's campaign coordinated with Moscow. Russia denies election meddling and Trump denies campaign collusion. Prosecutors said Natalie Sours Edwards, a senior adviser in the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), leaked documents to a reporter that became the basis of articles about that investigation published by digital media company BuzzFeed. "She saw things in her official capacity that she felt an obligation to bring forward," Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer for Sours Edwards, told reporters after a hearing in federal court in Manhattan. During Friday's brief hearing, US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn ordered that Sours Edwards may remain free on bail. She had previously pleaded not guilty at a hearing in Virginia, according to Agnifilo. She is currently on paid leave from her position. Prosecutors said beginning in October 2017, Sours Edwards illegally disclosed so-called suspicious activity reports connected to Manafort, accused Russian agent Maria Butina, the Russian embassy and a unit of Prevezon Holdings Ltd, a corporation owned by Russian businessman Denis Katsyv. Suspicious activity reports are submitted by banks to alert law enforcement to potentially illegal transactions. Information from the disclosures was reported in 11 articles that appeared in BuzzFeed over the course of a year, prosecutors said. Agnifilo said Sours Edwards shared the reports because "she believes that certain pieces of information were not being handled the right way and were not being brought to the attention of the people who should know it," though he did not give further details. He said Sours Edwards had also spoken to committees in Congress and to other government agencies about her concerns, and that her contact with the media was a relatively small part of her efforts. "It's been going on for several years," he said.

US official felt 'obligation' to leak documents on Manafort, others: Lawyer

&nbsp;Paul Manafort resigned as chairman of US Republican candidate Donald Trump&#39;s presidential campaign on Friday, days after he was effectively demoted in a shake-up of the campaign&#39;s leadership. 
 
&quot;This morning Paul Manafort offered, and I accepted, his resignation from the campaign,&quot; Trump said in a statement. 
 
&quot;I am very appreciative for his great work in helping to get us where we are today, and in particular his work guiding us through the delegate and convention process. Paul is a true professional and I wish him the greatest success,&quot; Trump said. 
 
On Wednesday, Trump overhauled his presidential campaign team, hiring the head of a conservative news website to bolster his combative image and to try to reverse poor opinion poll numbers in the race against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for the November 8 election. 
 
The move, his second staff revamp in less than two months, essentially served as demotion for Manafort, who was brought on in June in an attempt to bring a more professional touch, but has struggled to rein in Trump&#39;s freewheeling ways. 
 
Manafort has also come under increased scrutiny in recent days over alleged ties with pro-Russian political groups in Ukraine. 
Earlier on Friday, a Ukrainian lawmaker offered more details of what he said were payments made to Manafort by the political party of the Kremlin-backed former Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich. 
 
Manafort, in a statement earlier this week, has denied the allegations, which were first made in The New York Times on Monday. 
 
Also on Friday,&nbsp;Ukraine&#39;s anti-corruption body has released entries from once-secret accounting documents that purport to show payments from a pro-Russian political party earmarked for Donald Trump&#39;s campaign chairman. 
 
The Associated Press reported earlier this week that Paul Manafort helped Ukraine&#39;s Party of Regions secretly route at least $2.2 million to two Washington lobbying firms. Manafort told Yahoo News that AP&#39;s account was wrong. 
 
The documents now released show Manafort&#39;s name listed as a recipient of funds totaling $12.7 million in 22 line-item entries. 
 
Ukraine&#39;s National Anti-Corruption Bureau said, however, that it cannot prove that Manafort actually received the money because other people including a prominent Party of the Regions deputy signed for him in those entries. 
 
(Reuters and PTI)

Paul Manafort has been under fire in connection with a Ukrainian corruption investigation

Paul Manafort resigned as chairman of US Republican candidate Donald Trump's presidential campaign on Friday, days after he was effectively demoted in a shake-up of the campaign's leadership. "This morning Paul Manafort offered, and I accepted, his resignation from the campaign," Trump said in a statement. "I am very appreciative for his great work in helping to get us where we are today, and in particular his work guiding us through the delegate and convention process. Paul is a true professional and I wish him the greatest success," Trump said. On Wednesday, Trump overhauled his presidential campaign team, hiring the head of a conservative news website to bolster his combative image and to try to reverse poor opinion poll numbers in the race against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for the November 8 election. The move, his second staff revamp in less than two months, essentially served as demotion for Manafort, who was brought on in June in an attempt to bring a more professional touch, but has struggled to rein in Trump's freewheeling ways. Manafort has also come under increased scrutiny in recent days over alleged ties with pro-Russian political groups in Ukraine. Earlier on Friday, a Ukrainian lawmaker offered more details of what he said were payments made to Manafort by the political party of the Kremlin-backed former Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich. Manafort, in a statement earlier this week, has denied the allegations, which were first made in The New York Times on Monday. Also on Friday, Ukraine's anti-corruption body has released entries from once-secret accounting documents that purport to show payments from a pro-Russian political party earmarked for Donald Trump's campaign chairman. The Associated Press reported earlier this week that Paul Manafort helped Ukraine's Party of Regions secretly route at least $2.2 million to two Washington lobbying firms. Manafort told Yahoo News that AP's account was wrong. The documents now released show Manafort's name listed as a recipient of funds totaling $12.7 million in 22 line-item entries. Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau said, however, that it cannot prove that Manafort actually received the money because other people including a prominent Party of the Regions deputy signed for him in those entries. (Reuters and PTI)

Donald Trump's campaign manager resigns

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US official felt 'obligation' to leak documents on Manafort, others: Lawyer

Donald Trump's campaign manager resigns