Manafort shared data with Russian

FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2018 file photo, Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, leaves the federal courthouse in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

WASHINGTON — Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort shared polling data during the 2016 presidential campaign with a business associate accused of having ties to Russian intelligence, and prosecutors say he lied to them about it, according to a court filing Tuesday.

The allegation marks the first time prosecutors with special counsel Robert Mueller’s office have accused Trump’s chief campaign aide of sharing election-related information with his Russian contacts. Although the filing does not say whether the polling information was public or what was done with it, it raises the possibility that Russia might have used inside information from the campaign as part of its effort to interfere with the election on Trump’s behalf.