WASHINGTON Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleaded guilty on Friday to two charges involving a wide range of criminal conduct as part of a plea deal and has agreed to cooperate with the special counsel probe being led by Robert Mueller .

President Donald Trump has previously discussed pardoning Manafort with his attorneys, but an agreement to cooperate with Muellers team could put a potential pardon in jeopardy. Trump had previously stated his distaste for flipping and said it almost ought to be illegal.

Trumps lawyer in the investigation, Rudy Giuliani, said Manaforts agreement to cooperate with prosecutors is of no consequence to Trump.

I can guarantee you he has no information harmful to the president, he told HuffPost late Friday, adding that he knows precisely what Manafort can offer Mueller. I know because we have a joint defense agreement. Hes not going to lie to make them happy.

This has nothing to do with the president, nothing to do with obstruction, nothing to do with anything that they were charged to go after, Giuliani added. Theyre obviously winding down.

Manafort, 69, appeared Friday in federal court in Washington, where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice. The first charge covers a lot of criminal activity, including money laundering, tax fraud, failing to file reports about his foreign bank accounts, failing to register as a foreign agent and lying to the government.

Manafort was found guilty on eight counts last month following a separate federal trial in Northern Virginia and still faced 10 additional counts there in addition to the charges he faced in Washington. The 10 counts in Virginia will be dropped as part of Manaforts plea deal.

The plea deal states that Manafort shall cooperate fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly with the Government and other law enforcement authorities identified by the Government in any and all matters as to which the Government deems the cooperation relevant.