Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chief, drops legal team

[August 11, 2017]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, has tapped a new legal team to represent him as government lawyers examine possible Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, his spokesman Jason Maloni said.

Paul Manafort of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's staff listens during a round table discussion on security at Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., August 17, 2016. 

Law firm WilmerHale had been speaking on Manafort's behalf to investigators, but that relationship has ended, Maloni said.

"As of today, WilmerHale no longer represents Mr. Manafort," Maloni said in a statement.

"Mr. Manafort is in the process of retaining his former counsel, Miller & Chevalier, to represent him in the office of special counsel investigation," read the statement.

Miller & Chevalier's Richard Hibey has previously represented Manafort. His other clients have included CIA officer Clair George, who was convicted in 1992 of making false statements to Congress about the Reagan administration's secret arms sales to Iran.

Earlier this week, sources confirmed that FBI agents had raided Manafort's Virginia home and seized documents and other material as part of the probe.

(Reporting By Patrick Rucker; Editing by John Walcott and Diane Craft)

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