Paul Manafort And His Associate Rick Gates Indicted In Mueller Probe

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former Trump campaign official/Manafort’s associate Rick Gates have been indicted. Manafort has reportedly surrendered to federal authorities.

Paul Manafort surrendered to federal authorities Monday morning, after a person close to the case said the first charges were filed in a special counsel investigation.

The charges against Mr. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, were not immediately clear but represent a significant escalation in a special counsel investigation that has cast a shadow over the president’s first year in office. Also charged was Mr. Manafort’s former business associate Rick Gates, who was also told to surrender on Monday, the person said.

Mr. Manafort walked into the F.B.I.’s field office in Washington at about 8:15 a.m. with his lawyer.

As for Gates:

Mr. Gates is a longtime protégé and junior partner of Mr. Manafort. His name appears on documents linked to companies that Mr. Manafort’s firm set up in Cyprus to receive payments from politicians and businesspeople in Eastern Europe, records reviewed by The New York Times show.

Mr. Manafort had been under investigation for violations of federal tax law, money laundering and whether he appropriately disclosed his foreign lobbying.

According to the NYT report, Manafort saw this coming. After all, the FBI raided his home this past summer.

Mr. Manafort has expected charges since this summer, when F.B.I. agents raided his home and prosecutors warned him that they planned to indict him. That warning raised speculation that Mr. Manafort might try to cut a deal to avoid prosecution.

For those wondering, Manafort was directly involved with the Trump campaign for five months total. He joined the campaign May 19, 2016 and resigned August 19, 2016. He served as the chairman for three of those months.

We’ll let you know as soon as we hear more about the specific charges.