Manafort plea live updates: Former Trump aide appears in court and pleads guilty after cooperation deal to avoid trial in Mueller Russia investigation

Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort will cooperate with prosecutors from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation after pleading guilty to two charges to avoid a second criminal trial.

The charges include conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

As part of a plea deal, the rest of the charges in the Washington DC case, as well as the deadlocked charges from a previous case in Virginia will be dropped at the time of sentencing ot upon "completion of cooperation" prosecutors have said.

The allegations do not involve his work with the Trump campaign. It is not clear whether any agreement with prosecutors would require him to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Manafort was facing a second trial set to begin on Monday on charges related to Ukrainian political consulting work, including failing to register as a foreign agent.

It's unclear how the possible deal might affect Manafort's pursuit of a pardon from President Donald Trump. The president has signalled that he's sympathetic to Manafort's cause, and in comments to Politico, his attorney-spokesman Rudy Giuliani said a plea without a cooperation agreement wouldn't foreclose the possibility of a pardon.

Manafort is already facing eight to 10 years in prison after being convicted in Virginia on eight counts of bank and tax fraud and failing to disclose foreign bank accounts relating to $16m (£12m) laundered through shell companies overseas.

As the former campaign chairman is expected in court later today, you can follow live updates below.

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