1/ Paul Manafort violated his cooperation agreement with Robert Mueller by repeatedly lying to federal investigators, according to a court filing by the special counsel’s office. Prosecutors claim Manafort’s “crimes and lies” about “a variety of subject matters” relieve them of any promises made to Manafort as part of the plea agreement. Manafort cannot withdraw his guilty plea and without a deal, he now faces at least a decade in prison after pleading guilty in September to conspiring to defraud the U.S. and conspiring to obstruct justice. In August, a federal court jury in Alexandria, Va., convicted the former Trump campaign chairman on eight felony counts and deadlocked on 10 others. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / ABC News / CNN)

2/ Manafort allegedly held secret talks with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadoran embassy in London. Manafort met with the WikiLeaks founder around March 2016 – about the same time he joined Trump’s presidential campaign. Several months later, WikiLeaks published the Democratic emails stolen by Russia. Manafort also met with Assange in 2013 and 2015. It’s unclear why Manafort met with Assange or what they discussed. Manafort and WikiLeak both denied that Manafort had met with Assange. [Editor’s Note: Something about this story doesn’t smell right.] (The Guardian / CNBC)

  • Jerome Corsi emailed Roger Stone two months before WikiLeaks released emails stolen from the Clinton campaign, saying “Word is (Julian Assange) plans 2 more dumps…Impact planned to be very damaging.” On July 25, 2016, Stone emailed Corsi, directing him to “Get to (Assange) [a]t Ecuadorian Embassy in London and get the pending (WikiLeaks) emails.” Corsi passed the directive along to conservative author Ted Malloch. Eight days later, Corsi emailed Stone saying that WikiLeaks had information that would be damaging to Clinton’s campaign and planned to release it in October. (NBC News)

  • Corsi claimed he received “limited immunity” from Mueller in order to talk about a “cover story” he crafted for Stone to help explain Stone’s Aug. 21, 2016, tweet saying it would “soon be [the] Podesta’s time in the barrel.” Corsi also claimed he has a joint defense agreement with Trump. (Daily Caller / Slate)

  • Corsi rejected a deal offered by Mueller to plead guilty to one count of perjury, saying: “They want me to say I willfully lied. I’m not going to agree that I lied. I did not. I will not lie to save my life. I’d rather sit in prison and rot for as long as these thugs want me to.” Corsi, who is associated with Roger Stone, said he was offered a deal on one count of perjury. (The Guardian)

  • Mueller’s team has been investigating a meeting between Manafort and Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno in Quito in 2017. They’re specifically asking if WikiLeaks or Julian Assange were discussed in the meeting. (CNN)

  • A federal judge appeared reluctant to unseal a criminal complaint against Assange due to the government’s “compelling interest” in keeping the records under wraps until he is arrested. (CNN)

3/ Trump attacked Mueller after Manafort was accused of lying. Trump called the special counsel a “conflicted prosecutor gone rogue” and claimed Mueller is doing “TREMENDOUS damage” to the criminal justice system. Trump also accused the special counsel team of forcing witnesses to lie. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, meanwhile, said she was not aware of any discussions about a potential presidential pardon for Manafort. (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times / Bloomberg)

4/ The Senate could vote on a bill to protect Mueller. Jeff Flake has said he will oppose all of Trump’s judicial nominees until there is a vote on a bill to codify some protections for special counsel investigations. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said Republicans are willing to hold a vote “if that’s what it’s going to take” to get more of Trump’s nominations through the Judiciary Committee. (Roll Call / Politico)

Notables.

  1. Trump threatened to cut subsidies for GM after the company said it was planning to cut up to 14,800 jobs and end production at several North American factories. (Wall Street Journal / CNBC / Bloomberg)

  2. Fox News coordinated its interview questions before on-air interviews with Scott Pruitt. In one instance, the EPA approved part of the show’s script. (Daily Beast / Slate / ThinkProgress)

  3. The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said “it’s awfully tough” for Ivanka Trump to comply with government email rules. Bob Goodlatte suggested that Ivanka’s use of a personal email account to conduct government business was “very different” from the private email server Hillary Clinton used during her time as secretary of State. (Politico)

  4. House Republicans are meeting with Trump today in an attempt to avoid a government shutdown on Dec. 7. Republican leaders promised Trump that they would fight to secure more funding for his border wall after the midterms. Democrats, however, say Trump’s $5 billion price tag is too high. Senate GOP leaders have discussed the possibility of spreading the $5 billion out over two years. Trump hasn’t ruled the idea out, but it’s not clear whether Democrats will concede. (Politico)

  5. House Republicans released a 297-page tax plan they hope to pass during the lame-duck session. The bill would impact Americans’ retirement savings, multiple business tax breaks, and would redesign the IRS. The House Republicans could vote on the proposal as early as this week. (Politico / CNBC / Reuters)

  6. The White House is preventing the CIA director from briefing the Senate on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Gina Haspel won’t take part in a Senate briefing by Mike Pompeo and James Mattis on U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia behind closed doors on Wednesday. (The Guardian)