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Former Trump campaign chair Manafort surrenders to authorities

Former Trump campaign chair Manafort surrenders to authorities
Former Trump campaign chair Manafort surrenders to authorities
Posted at 8:03 AM, Oct 30, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-30 05:40:23-04

(RNN) - Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort is set to turn himself in Monday on charges related to the investigation into possible collusion between the campaign and the Russian government.

Manafort was seen entering the FBI field office in Washington, DC, around 8:15 a.m. ET.

CNN and The New York Times first reported Manafort would surrender to federal authorities. Rick Gates, a business partner of Manafort, also has been charged and turned himself in, the Associated Press reported.

CNN stated that sealed indictments had come Friday for criminal charges approved by a federal grand jury, the first to come from the probe into Russian meddling in the presidential election. Robert Mueller, the former FBI director, has headed the Justice Department's investigation since being appointed as special counsel in May.

The charges have not been publicly revealed. Mueller's investigation has wide latitude in what it can investigate, so the charges may not be directly related to any campaign action. Manafort joined the Trump campaign in March, soon rising to the role of chairman, but resigned in August. 

His resignation came amid reports of $12 million in undisclosed payments to him from former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, an ally of Russia President Vladimir Putin. The FBI performed a no-knock raid of Manafort's Alexandria, VA, home in August. 

U.S. investigators also wiretapped Manafort in 2014, before he became a part of President Donald Trump's campaign, CNN reported. It was authorized under secret court orders, and it continued until early this year, after president Donald Trump was in the White House.

Sources said the FBI investigation initially centered on work done by Washington consulting firms working for Ukraine's Russia-backed former ruling party. A second warrant was part of FBI efforts to investigate suspected ties between Trump campaign associates and possible Russian operatives.

The special counsel was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation and the president fired FBI Director James Comey. Mueller impaneled a grand jury in August. 

Manafort took part in a meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign. Emails released by Donald Trump Jr. showed he believed the meeting would provide damaging information about Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and that the intelligence was coming from the Russian government. 

Donald Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing, calling the investigation a "witch hunt" and a "hoax."

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