First charges filed in U.S. special
counsel's Russia investigation: source
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[October 28, 2017]
By Mark Hosenball
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal grand jury
on Friday approved the first charges in the investigation into alleged
Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a source
briefed on the matter told Reuters.
The indictment was sealed under orders from a federal judge so it was
not clear what the charges were or who the target was, the source said,
adding that it could be unsealed as early as Monday.
The filing of charges by the grand jury in Washington was first reported
on Friday by CNN, which said the target could be taken into custody as
soon as Monday.
U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in January that Russia interfered
in the election to try to help President Donald Trump defeat Democratic
candidate Hillary Clinton through a campaign of hacking and releasing
embarrassing emails, and disseminating propaganda via social media to
discredit her campaign.
Special counsel Robert Mueller, a former director of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, is investigating whether Trump campaign officials
colluded with those Russian efforts.
"If the Special Counsel finds it necessary and appropriate, the Special
Counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from the
investigation of these matters," Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein
said in a May 17 letter appointing Mueller.
Sources familiar with Mueller’s investigation said he has used that
broad authority to investigate links between Trump aides and foreign
governments as well as possible money laundering, tax evasion and other
financial crimes.
Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, declined to comment on Friday.
Trump, a Republican who was elected president last November, has denied
allegations that his campaign colluded with Russians and condemned
investigations into the matter as "a witch hunt".
The Kremlin has denied the allegations.
Mueller's investigation also includes an effort to determine whether
Trump or any of his aides tried to obstruct justice.
The special counsel's team has conducted interviews with former White
House chief of staff Reince Priebus, former spokesman Sean Spicer and
other current and former White House officials.
In July, FBI agents raided the home in Virginia of Trump's former
campaign manager, Paul Manafort, whose financial and real estate
dealings and prior work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine are
being investigated by Mueller's team.
Mueller was appointed to lead the investigation a week after Trump fired
FBI Director James Comey, who was heading a federal probe into possible
collusion with Russia.
Trump initially said he fired Comey because his leadership of the FBI
was inadequate and hurt morale, but in a later interview with NBC he
cited "this Russia thing" as his reason.
SHADOW
The Russia investigation has cast a shadow over Trump's nine-month-old
presidency and widened the partisan rift between Republicans and
Democrats.
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FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies before a Senate Intelligence
Committee hearing on "Current and Projected National Security
Threats to the United States" on Capitol Hill in Washington March
12, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
Republican lawmakers earlier this week launched investigations to
examine several of Trump's longstanding political grievances,
including the FBI probe of Hillary Clinton's emails and her alleged
role in a sale of U.S. uranium to a Russian firm.
Mueller's team has also investigated Michael Flynn, who was an
adviser to Trump's campaign and later briefly served as his national
security adviser.
Flynn was fired from that post in February after misleading Vice
President Mike Pence about the extent of his conversations with
Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak last year.
While he was on Trump's campaign team, Flynn also had a $600,000
contract from a Turkish businessman to help discredit U.S.-based
Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Turkey's government of
instigating a failed coup in July 2016.
Former CIA director James Woolsey, who was also an adviser to the
Trump campaign, has alleged that Flynn discussed with the
businessman and two Turkish government ministers the idea of
covertly spiriting Gulen out of the United States to face charges in
Turkey.
Jonathan Franks, a spokesman for Woolsey, said on Friday that
Woolsey and his wife have been in communication with the FBI and
Mueller's team about the claim.
Woolsey and his wife, Nancye Miller, "have responded to every
request, whether from the FBI, or, more recently, the Office of the
Special Counsel," Franks said in a statement.
Flynn has previously denied through a spokesperson that such a plan
was ever discussed.
Reuters reported on Thursday that Woolsey and his wife last year
pitched a $10 million project to the same Turkish businessman who
had agreed a smaller contract with Flynn. They did not win a
contract.
Bidding for a lobbying or consulting contract with a foreign company
or government is not illegal but Flynn came under scrutiny because
he waited until March to retroactively register with the Justice
Department as a foreign agent for the work he did on the Gulen
project.
(Additional reporting by Nathan Layne, Mohammad Zargham and Eric
Beech; Editing by Kieran Murray and Nick Macfie)
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