Trump confronts accelerating Russia investigation
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.
Even 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. Comey, who was dismissed by Trump in May, has not received any official indication he’ll be summoned to again testify.
Both Mueller and congressional investigators also 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.
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 who are under investigation.
“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.”
Although much of what Mueller is doing remains secret, there have been signs recently that his investigation is expanding, said two U.S. officials. That includes issuing subpoenas to a former lawyer and public relations spokesman for Manafort, who directed Trump’s campaign during six critical months last year, has emerged as a central figure because of his past financial dealings and his work for a Russian-backed party in Ukraine. Manafort’s financial transactions are also under scrutiny by New York’s attorney general, Politico reported Aug. 30, adding that the former campaign chairman hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions also is expected to testify in the Senate in the coming weeks for the second time since his January confirmation hearing. While Sessions may want to focus on his anti-crime agenda, senators will demand details about his role in firing Comey, who had led the Russia probe.
“The investigations are becoming more active,” Mariotti, who led prosecutions in a range of white-collar crimes including securities fraud and tax evasion, said in an interview. Mueller is “conducting an wide-reaching investigation into what are complex crimes” while Congress is releasing details that Mueller might not, he added.
Mueller will submit a list of his expenditures to the Justice Department soon after Sept. 30, which may provide insight into the scope of his investigation. The department is expected to make the document public.
Besides Manafort, one focus of investigators on Capitol Hill is the president’s eldest son. Donald Trump Jr. has come under scrutiny for arranging a meeting in June 2016 with Russians who were promising damaging material on Trump’s rival, Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was interviewed behind closed doors by the Senate and House intelligence committees, on July 24 and 25.
But Democrats say they continue to focus on details surrounding a meeting Kushner had in December with Sergey Gorkov, the head of a Russian stateowned bank, according to Representative Adam Schiff, the intelligence panel’s top Democrat.