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Sep. 19, 2017
Revelations that special counsel Robert Mueller is looking for evidence of possible crimes committed as far back as January 2006 as part of his investigation into former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort shed new light on Mueller's objectives.
CNN reported on Tuesday that when FBI agents conducted a predawn raid of Manafort's home in July, their warrant said the investigation was focusing on criminal conduct that could have happened more than a decade ago.
Mueller's investigation into Manafort focuses primarily on his business dealings and his work for Ukraine's pro-Russia Party of Regions. Manafort is connected to the party through his time serving as a top consultant for Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, whom he started working for in 2004.
Manafort is widely credited with helping Yanukovych win the presidency in 2010. After being ousted in 2014 following widespread protests against his Russia-friendly positions, Yanukovych fled Ukraine and is now living under the protection of the Kremlin.
Last August, it emerged that the Party of Regions reportedly designated Manafort $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments. Manafort's firm belatedly disclosed in a June filing that it had received about $17 million from the group between 2012 and 2014. Manafort's ties to the Party of Regions are what first prompted the FBI's interest in him.
The special counsel's particular inquiry into Manafort not only confirms that he is a key focus in the Russia investigation, but also highlights the likelihood that Mueller is digging for criminal conduct in an effort to "flip" Manafort as a witness against Trump and other campaign associates.
It's hard to tell what Mueller has on Manafort, "but they absolutely have something because they got a search warrant," said Joseph Pelcher, a former FBI counterintelligence agent who was stationed in Russia and specialized in organized crime. "You need probable cause to get a search warrant, so there is something there, without question."
"If I were investigating the case, the first thing I would do is sit Manafort down and get him to cooperate, because he's not the big fish here,"
Mueller is drilling into Manafort's past — and it could spell trouble for Trump
Revelations that special counsel Robert Mueller is looking for evidence of possible crimes committed as far back as January 2006 as part of his investigation into former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort shed new light on Mueller's objectives.
CNN reported on Tuesday that when FBI agents conducted a predawn raid of Manafort's home in July, their warrant said the investigation was focusing on criminal conduct that could have happened more than a decade ago.
Mueller's investigation into Manafort focuses primarily on his business dealings and his work for Ukraine's pro-Russia Party of Regions. Manafort is connected to the party through his time serving as a top consultant for Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, whom he started working for in 2004.
Manafort is widely credited with helping Yanukovych win the presidency in 2010. After being ousted in 2014 following widespread protests against his Russia-friendly positions, Yanukovych fled Ukraine and is now living under the protection of the Kremlin.
Last August, it emerged that the Party of Regions reportedly designated Manafort $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments. Manafort's firm belatedly disclosed in a June filing that it had received about $17 million from the group between 2012 and 2014. Manafort's ties to the Party of Regions are what first prompted the FBI's interest in him.
The special counsel's particular inquiry into Manafort not only confirms that he is a key focus in the Russia investigation, but also highlights the likelihood that Mueller is digging for criminal conduct in an effort to "flip" Manafort as a witness against Trump and other campaign associates.
It's hard to tell what Mueller has on Manafort, "but they absolutely have something because they got a search warrant," said Joseph Pelcher, a former FBI counterintelligence agent who was stationed in Russia and specialized in organized crime. "You need probable cause to get a search warrant, so there is something there, without question."
"If I were investigating the case, the first thing I would do is sit Manafort down and get him to cooperate, because he's not the big fish here,"
Mueller is drilling into Manafort's past — and it could spell trouble for Trump
