REPORT: FIRST CHARGES OK’D IN MUELLER INVESTIGATION

A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., approved Friday the initial charges stemming from the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

First reported by CNN, the charges remain sealed by a federal judge. What the charges are was unknown but individuals could be taken into custody as soon as Monday, the network said.

CNN also reported that on Friday lawyers who were involved with the Mueller probe, including prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, were seen entering the courtroom where the grand jury had been meeting to hear testimony in the Russia investigation.

Reporters had seen a flurry of activity at the grand jury room, but officials made no announcements, the news

network reported.

The Justice Department in May appointed the former FBI director as a special counsel for the investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives. Deputy Attorney General Ron Rosenstein signed the order.

Mueller’s team is broadly investigating whether any Trump associates colluded with the Russian government in its attempts to dis

rupt the 2016 election. Mueller took over the inves

tigation in May and assembled a team of prosecutors in an office in downtown Washington.

Mueller was a former federal prosecutor in Washington before becoming FBI director, where he spent 12 years before stepping down in 2013.

Mueller was appointed special counsel by the Jus

tice Department following Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey.

He has since assembled a team of more than a dozen investigators, including current and former Justice Department prosecutors with experience in international bribery, organized crime and financial fraud.

Mueller is authorized to investigate “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation,” according to Rosenstein’s order.

The probe has focused on

potential efforts between the Trump campaign and Russia.