Wow, talk about a Friday night news dump bombshell. It seems that the first charges stemming from Rober Mueller’s special investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election have now been filed.
We don’t yet know who they were filed against, or what the charges are, but an arrest could be as early as this Monday.
A federal grand jury in Washington, DC, on Friday approved the first charges in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller, according to sources briefed on the matter.
The charges are still sealed under orders from a federal judge. Plans were prepared Friday for anyone charged to be taken into custody as soon as Monday, the sources said. It is unclear what the charges are.
A spokesman for the special counsel’s office declined to comment.
Remember what this investigation is about.
Mueller is authorized to investigate “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation,” according to Rosenstein’s order.
The special counsel’s investigation has focused on potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, as well as obstruction of justice by the President, who might have tried to impede the investigation. CNN reported that investigators are scrutinizing Trump and his associates’ financial ties to Russia.
Mueller’s team has also examined foreign lobbying conducted by former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and others. His team has issued subpoenas for documents and testimony to a handful of figures, including some people close to Manafort, and others involved in the Trump Tower meeting between Russians and campaign officials.
But also remember the special counsel has BROAD authority to expand his investigation. Last week, Lindsey Graham strongly hinted that Mueller might be looking into the previous administration and into Hillary as well.
So we don’t know what is about to come down, but we know this: it’s going to be big news. So like we said, stay tuned.