Paul Manafort Indicted In Mueller Investigation, Will Turn Himself In
This is the first domino to fall in the investigation.
This weekend, it was announced that the grand jury had approved the first charges in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election. At the time, the charges were sealed, but anyone charged under the indictment was expected to be taken into custody as soon as today.
Earlier this morning, America learned that Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, had been indicted under seal, and would be turning himself in to Mueller sometime soon. The Washington Post reports that Manafort’s former business partner, Rick Gates, has also been ordered to turn himself in.
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The indictment is expected to be unsealed later today. Recall that in late July, the FBI launched a predawn raid on Manfort’s home to obtain all records in response to the grand jury’s subpoena. Here’s a report from CNN, which was first with the news:
The indictment of a top official from President Donald Trump’s campaign signals a dramatic new phase of Mueller’s wide-ranging investigation into possible collusion between the Russian government and members of Trump’s team as well as potential obstruction of justice and financial crimes.
Manafort, whose work for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has attracted scrutiny from federal investigators, has previously denied financial wrongdoing regarding his Ukraine-related payments, his bank accounts in offshore tax shelters and his various real-estate transactions over the years.
In our reader poll posted Friday night, more than half of respondents thought that Manafort would be the first to be charged in the investigation. Nice work, gumshoes.
UPDATE (9:25 a.m.): Manafort and Gates have surrendered to the FBI, and the 12-count indictment has been unsealed. You can flip to the next page to see a copy of the indictment. Here is a press release from special counsel Robert Mueller:
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Paul J. Manafort, Jr., 68, of Alexandria, Va., and Richard W. Gates III, 45, of Richmond, Va., have been indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 27, 2017, in the District of Columbia. The indictment contains 12 counts: conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading FARA statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.
UPDATE (2:05 p.m.): Manafort and Gates have both pleaded not guilty.
Manafort to turn himself in to Mueller, source says [CNN]
Manafort and former business partner asked to surrender in connection with special counsel probe [Washington Post]
Paul Manafort and Rick Gates surrender to FBI: Live updates [CNN]
Earlier: Charges Coming In The Mueller Investigation
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Staci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.