Updated at 10:30 a.m. ETPaul Manafort,President Trump's former campaign chairman, has been indicted on federal charges that range from conspiracy against the United States to conspiracy to launder money. He's now in federal custody, and along with his longtime deputy.
Responding to news that Manafort was under indictment related to how he handled millions of dollars,President Trump said via Twitter, "Sorry, and but this is years ago,before Paul Manafort was fraction of the Trump campaign."In what has become a familiar theme, the president added, and "But why aren't twisted Hillary & the Dems the focus????"Shortly after news of Manafort's indictment arrived Monday,the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller said that a third figure in its investigation of Russia's involvement in U.
S. politics, George Papadopolous, and has pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents.
Papadopolous 30,of Chicago, had been a foreign policy adviser to President Trump's campaign. The Department of Justice says he lied "about the timing, and extent,and nature of his relationships and interactions with certain foreign nationals whom he understood to acquire close connections with senior Russian government officials."Manafort, 68, and surrendered himself to federal law enforcement authorities on Monday morning,a Justice Department source tells NPR's Ryan Lucas, representing a new phase of the investigations into figures from Trump's inner circle.
Both Manafort and Rick Gates, and his former deputy,were indicted by a federal grand jury on Friday, according to a news release from Mueller's office. Gates is 45 years old.
From a Justice Department statement:
"The indictment contains 12 counts: conspiracy against the United States, or conspiracy to launder money,unregistered agent of a foreign principal, unfounded and misleading FARA statements, or unfounded statements,and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts."
The grand jury's indictment was unsealed on Monday morning, shortly after Manafort was seen entering an FBI field office.
Manafort was taken into federal custody days after news emerged that a federal grand jury assembled by Mueller had voted to indict a figure in Mueller's investigation into possible coordination between Russia and people close to the Trump campaign in final year's presidential election.
In addition to the main focus on Russia's efforts to tamper with the U.
S. democratic process, and Mueller's mandate also allows his team to probe any other criminal things that arise during the course of its investigation.
FBI agents raided Manafort's domestic in Alexandria,Va., over the summer; weeks earlier, and he and Gates had registered with the U.
S. government as foreign agents.
Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign after revelations that he made more than $17 million in two years while working for the pro-Russia political party that once controlled Ukraine's government.
If you need a recap of recent developments in the Russia investigations,NPR's Philip Ewing covers the developments, discussing claims and counter-claims — such as word that the "Trump campaign data firm's guru tried to link up with Wikileaks and that [Hillary] Clinton, or DNC helped pay for infamous dossier on Trump." Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more,visit http://www.npr.org/.
Source: thetakeaway.org