Justice Department says Mueller probe
lawful
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[February 05, 2018]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.
Justice Department has backed Special Counsel Robert Mueller over a
lawsuit filed against him by Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's
former campaign manager, and argued that the case should be dismissed.
Manafort sued Mueller on Jan. 3, saying his office's investigation into
possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016
presidential election exceeded its legal authority.
The civil lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia, accused Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed
Mueller, of exceeding his legal authority to "grant Mr. Mueller carte
blanche to investigate and pursue criminal charges in connection with
anything he stumbles across."
"These claims lack merit," a Justice Department filing to the court on
Friday said. "The Special Counsel's investigation and prosecutions are
entirely lawful."
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The department said the case should be dismissed.
Mueller's office indicted Manafort and his business partner Rick Gates
in October on charges including conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy
against the United States and failing to register as foreign agents of
Ukraine's former pro-Russian government.
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![](../images/020518pics/news_q35.jpg)
Special Counsel Robert Mueller departs after briefing members of the
U.S. Senate on his investigation into potential collusion between
Russia and the Trump campaign on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S.,
June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
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Trump and his Republican allies in Congress on Friday escalated a
campaign against U.S. law enforcement agencies over their probe of the
president's ties to Russia, releasing a disputed memo that the Federal
Bureau of Investigation warned was misleading and inaccurate.
Democrats said the four-page memo mischaracterized highly sensitive
classified information and was intended to undermine Mueller's
criminal probe into the Russia matter launched in May 2017 that grew
out of an earlier FBI investigation. They warned Trump against using
it as a pretext to fire Rosenstein or Mueller himself.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Additional reporting by Nathan Layne
and Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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