The Latest: Court papers show Manafort drafting op-ed

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the election (all times local):

5:20 p.m.

New documents show President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was heavily involved in drafting an op-ed defending his work in Ukraine. The opinion piece was drafted while Manafort was under house arrest facing several felony charges.

Court papers filed by special counsel Robert Mueller show that Manafort did a line-by-line edit of the essay on Nov. 29. The op-ed was published this week in an English language newspaper in Ukraine under the byline of a former Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Prosecutors are arguing that Manafort's involvement in the op-ed violated a court order barring him from trying his case in the press. Prosecutors also say that Manafort's attorney had assured them the essay wouldn't be published.

___

3:30 p.m.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has produced hundreds of thousands of documents in the government's case against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates.

Mueller's investigators made copies of cell phones and hard drives and submitted 15 search warrants and other requests in their investigation of Trump's former campaign chairman and his deputy.

The scope of the documents is outlined in a new court filing detailing what evidence the government collected in building its case against Manafort and Gates. The filing explains what documents and evidence were provided to the defense teams as part of the discovery process.

The filing gives a rare peek into the tactics used by federal investigators, but stops short of detailing the contents of the evidence.