Russia probe tightens focus on Trump family members and associates
Special counsel Robert Mueller and key congressional committees are tightening their focus on some of President Donald Trump’s family members and campaign associates as probes into Russia’s interference with the 2016 election enter a new and more aggressive phase.
Both Mueller and congressional investigators are eager to learn more from the growing roster of recently departed White House staff, including former chief of staff Reince Priebus and strategist Stephen Bannon. And fired FBI Director James Comey is aware that he may return to Capitol Hill to follow up on his explosive testimony from earlier this year, according to a source familiar with his thinking.
Interviews with more than a dozen lawyers and officials involved in aspects of the Russia probes hint at the intensity of what lies ahead in an investigation the president continues to rail against as “fake news” and a “witch hunt.”
That intensity is intended to put a strain on major characters as well as bit players who are under investigation as they jockey for advantage and it becomes clearer who’s cooperating with investigators and who is resisting.
“In any criminal investigation it is in the government’s interest to magnify conflicts between the various people they’re looking at,” said Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor who’s now a partner at Thompson Coburn LLC. “When the subjects of an investigation are pitted against each other, the government can exploit those conflicts to induce some of the individuals to cooperate against others.”
There have been signs recently that Mueller’s investigation is expanding, said two U.S. officials. That includes issuing subpoenas to a former lawyer and current public relations spokesman for Paul Manafort, whose Virginia home was raided by the FBI last month.
Manafort, who directed Trump’s campaign during six critical months, has emerged as a central figure because of his past financial dealings and his work for a Russian-backed party in Ukraine.