Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein gave Special Counsel Robert Mueller the authority to investigate Paul Manafort and possible Russian collusion in a classified August 2, 2017 memo just revealed late Monday night.
TIME:
The memo, which had not previously been released publicly and remains redacted in parts, said that Mueller was empowered to investigate allegations that Manafort “committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials” to interfere with the presidential election.
None of the charges Manafort currently faces alleges coordination with the Kremlin, and Manafort’s attorneys had used that point to argue that Mueller had exceeded his authority by bringing charges against him accusing him of various financial crimes and acting as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of Ukrainian interests.
CNN:
Mueller was also empowered by Rosenstein to investigate Manafort's payments from Ukrainian politicians, a cornerstone of the Trump adviser's decades-long lobbying career that has resulted in several financial criminal charges so far.
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The memo, attached to Monday night's court argument and not previously disclosed even to Manafort, describes how Rosenstein's public order that appointed Mueller in May left out some details so it didn't confirm "specific investigations involving specific individuals."
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Also in Monday night's filing, Mueller's prosecutors explain how they might try to connect Manafort's pre-campaign lobbying work to possible crimes during the 2016 campaign.
Mueller's investigatory mission "would naturally cover ties that a former Trump campaign manager had to Russian-associated political operatives, Russian-backed politicians, and Russian oligarchs. It would also naturally look into any interactions they may have had before and during the campaign to plumb motives and opportunities to coordinate and to expose possible channels for surreptitious communications. And prosecutors would naturally follow the money trail from Manafort's Ukrainian consulting activities."
The newly revealed information quashes Manafort's attempts to have his case dismissed on the grounds that Mueller's investigation is broader than allowed.
CNN:
... Mueller's team Monday night refutes Manafort's complaints in its 45-page legal brief. "Under this regime, a runaway Special Counsel is an impossibility," the prosecutors write, referring to current laws that regulate the office of a special counsel in the Justice Department.
Manafort is scheduled to face a jury in Virginia in July, then awaits trial in DC in September.
Mueller authorized by DOJ to investigate alleged Manafort collusion with Russian government (CNN)
Read the DOJ memo authorizing Mueller to investigate potential Manafort collusion (CNN)
A Newly Revealed Memo Details the Scope of Robert Mueller's Investigative Mandate (TIME)