Trump campaigners on conspiracy counts

TWO key players in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign have been charged with “conspiracy against the US” and a third campaign operative has admitted lying to the FBI, as the probe into Russian meddling in the US election claims its first scalps.

Mr Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and business associate Rick Gates will face 12 charges that include conspiracy against the US and conspiracy to launder money.

Both pleaded not guilty yesterday and were placed under house arrest. The US Government asked for bail to be set at $10 million for Mr Manafort and $5 million for Mr Gates.

Investigators allege they were part of a secret “scheme” where they acted as foreign agents for a pro-Russian Ukrainian party, that they hid the $75 million they were paid and that they lied to authorities about it.

Meanwhile, Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his relationships with Russian operatives.

According to a court document, Mr Papadopoulos made repeated efforts to set up a meeting between Mr Trump and the Russians.

In response to the alleged conspiracy involving Mr Manafort, the President tweeted the conduct happened before he was running his campaign.

White House spokes- woman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the revelations had “nothing to do with the President, has nothing to do with the President’s campaign or campaign activity” and reiterated there was “no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion”.

Ms Huckabee Sanders said the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helping to fund a dossier on Mr Trump was the “real collusion scandal”.

“There’s clear evidence of the Clinton campaign collud- ing with Russian intelligence to spread disinformation and smear the President to influence the election,” she said.

Mr Manafort and Mr Gates turned themselves in a day after reports emerged they were about to be charged.