Pre-Dawn FBI Raid at Manafort's Home Revealed

It took place last month, signaling Robert Mueller's interest in ex-Trump campaign chair
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 9, 2017 10:44 AM CDT
FBI Raided Home of Former Trump Campaign Chair
In this July 18, 2016, file photo, then-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort walks around the convention floor before the opening session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

The Virginia home of President Trump's former campaign chairman was raided by FBI agents late last month, sources tell the Washington Post. Paul Manafort had voluntarily met with investigators for the Senate Intelligence Committee on July 25, and the pre-dawn raid—which came with no advance warning—was carried out the following day by agents working with special counsel Robert Mueller, who's overseeing the investigation into Russian tampering with the 2016 election. The agents, operating under a search warrant, took documents and other materials. A source also spoke to the New York Times about the raid and said agents were looking for tax documents and foreign banking records. The Times notes that those types of records are usually sought when there's an investigation into violations of a law requiring Americans to report their foreign banking accounts.

Sources say Mueller is probing allegations related to Manafort's work for the Ukrainian government and his role in the the June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer, in which Russians allegedly promised to share info that could hurt Hillary Clinton. Manafort has been voluntarily handing over documents to congressional committees probing the election meddling, including his notes from the aforementioned meeting, but the raid suggests Mueller's investigators may not believe he's turning over everything. Sources say Mueller may be focusing on Manafort in an effort to build a separate case against him, with the goal of getting Manafort to turn on others in Trump's inner circle in an attempt to lessen the legal ramifications against himself. ABC News notes that Manafort resigned from Trump's campaign team amid questions about his foreign business connections. (More Paul Manafort stories.)

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