Paul Manafort is lying to protect former associate and alleged spy Konstantin Kilimnik: CNN analyst

On Friday, during a panel discussion with CNN's Erin Burnett, national security analyst Juliette Kayyem revealed why she thinks President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to prosecutors.

Kayyem suggested that it was to protect his colleague Konstantin Kilimnik.

"Why would he have protected Kilimnik?" Kayyem said. "Why would he have lied and ruined the possibility to get out of jail while still alive?"

"This is a theory that we've never heard before. Which is Manafort wants people to believe that Kilimnik is not who we all know he is, which is an asset and a friend of Putin."

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson echoed the same sentiment in a released a redacted transcript.

"Concessions comes in dribs and drabs, only after it's clear that the Office of Special Counsel already knew the answer," Jackson said. "Again, it's part of a pattern of requiring the Office of Special Counsel to pull teeth; withholding facts if he can get away with it."

Watch below via CNN: