Senior prosecutor departs U.S. special counsel's team: media

[March 19, 2019]  (Reuters) - A senior prosecutor has departed special Prosecutor Robert Mueller's team, the latest to exit the investigation, media reports said.

The move comes amid widespread speculation that Mueller's investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 U.S. election is nearing an end.

Zainab Ahmad, a leading Mueller prosecutor who oversaw the investigation of former national security advisor and Trump campaign aide Michael Flynn, has left Mueller's team, a Mueller spokesman Peter Carr said Tuesday, according to Yahoo News.

"Zainab Ahmad has concluded her detail with the Special Counsel’s Office but will continue to represent the office on specific pending matters that were assigned to her during her detail," Carr said in statement, Yahoo News reported.

Last week, Carr announced that another of top prosecutor, Andrew Weissman, will soon leave his post.

Weissmann, who orchestrated the prosecution of Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort, will leave the special counsel's team "in the near future," Carr recently said.

Manafort was sentenced by a federal judge in Washington, bringing his total punishment to 7-1/2 years in prison from two criminal cases brought by Mueller's team, including financial fraud. Manafort was convicted of or pleaded guilty to a litany of financial and other crimes.

In 2017 Flynn plead guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations with a Russian ambassador, and he has not yet been sentenced.

Officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Michael Perry)

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