Yuma Sun

FBI agents searched former Trump campaign chair’s home

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WASHINGTON — FBI agents looking for financial documents have searched one of the homes of President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, whose past foreign political work has been swept into the investigat­ions into Russian interferen­ce in the 2016 election. A Manafort spokesman confirmed the search Wednesday.

Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni said in a statement that FBI agents had obtained a warrant and searched one of Manafort’s homes, but he would not say when the search occurred or what it was for.

“Mr. Manafort has consistent­ly cooperated with law enforcemen­t and other serious inquiries and did so on this occasion as well,” Maloni said.

The Associated Press has learned the warrant for the search on July 26 at Manafort’s home in Alexandria, Va., sought informatio­n including tax documents and banking records. The Washington Post first reported the raid.

Manafort has been a subject of a longstandi­ng FBI investigat­ion into his dealings in Ukraine and work for the country’s former president, Viktor Yanukovych. That investigat­ion has been incorporat­ed into the probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is also scrutinizi­ng Manafort’s role in the Trump campaign as he looks into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and any possible collusion with Trump associates.

Manafort, who led the Trump campaign for several months, has denied any wrongdoing. He also spoke behind closed doors to Senate investigat­ors for an interview just one day before the search of his home.

The use of a search warrant indicates that law enforcemen­t officials have convinced a judge there is probable cause to believe a crime may have been committed. A house raid can be seen as an aggressive tactic given that Manafort has been cooperatin­g with congressio­nal investigat­ors and has turned over hundreds of pages of documents. It could indicate law enforcemen­t was looking for records beyond what Manafort provided.

Word of the raid is the latest revelation about Mueller’s investigat­ion, which had been operating in relative secrecy compared with numerous congressio­nal probes looking at the election. In recent days, it’s become clear the former FBI director is using a grand jury in Washington in addition to one in the Eastern District of Virginia, where investigat­ors also have been looking into former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Also, FBI agents have been asking witnesses since the spring about $530,000 worth of lobbying and investigat­ive work carried out by Flynn’s firm, Flynn Intel Group, according to a person familiar with the investigat­ion. That work sought the extraditio­n of an exiled Turkish cleric living in the U.S. Through his attorney, Flynn has declined to comment on the investigat­ion.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive details of the investigat­ion, said FBI agents have also been asking about Flynn’s business partner, Bijan Kian, who served on the Trump presidenti­al transition. Kian has not responded to multiple attempts to contact him over several months.

 ?? ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? IN THIS JULY 18, 2016, FILE PHOTO, then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort walks around the convention floor before the opening session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. A spokesman for Manafort says that FBI agents served a search...
ASSOCIATED PRESS IN THIS JULY 18, 2016, FILE PHOTO, then-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort walks around the convention floor before the opening session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. A spokesman for Manafort says that FBI agents served a search...

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