Article snippet: Former Trump campaign chairman MORE. ABC News reported news of the tentative deal on Thursday, saying it is expected to be announced in court on Friday. A pretrial conference is scheduled for Friday in federal court in Washington, D.C. On Thursday evening, Judge Amy Berman Jackson pushed the conference from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. No explanation was given for the delay. ABC reported that it remains unclear whether Manafort has agreed to cooperate with Mueller's probe or is conceding to a guilty plea. Sources with knowledge of the discussions told ABC that conceding to a guilty plea would allow Manafort to avoid the expense and stress of a trial. The special counsel's office declined to comment to The Hill on the report of a tentative plea deal. Neither Manafort's attorneys nor family spokesman Jason Maloni responded to requests for comment. The report of a tentative deal comes days before jury selection is expected to begin for Manafort’s trial in D.C., which is set to kick off with opening statements on Sept. 24. The trial would be the second for Manafort stemming from Mueller’s sprawling investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Manafort was convicted on eight counts of tax and bank fraud in federal court in Virginia in August, a development that was widely viewed as a victory for Mueller’s team in his first court test of the Russia probe. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on 10 counts for Manafort, however. Prosecutors have... Link to the full article to read more