Mueller Probe: Dutch lawyer first person to be sentenced

A protester holds a sign as former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort (R) arrives at the Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse for an arraignment hearing on March 8, 2018 in Alexandria, Virginia. Manafort has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing related to Russian election interference.

Special counsel Robert Mueller remains focused on President Donald Trump as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 USA election, but not does consider Trump a “criminal target”, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The specifics of the charges against van der Zwaan are complicated.

“Should investigate.” The piece of the missive that generated all of today’s tongue-wagging came from Rosenstein’s memo that simply approved some specifics of what Mueller and company were authorized to probe vis-a-vis Manafort. Rosenstein pulled the trigger on hiring Mueller in late Spring of previous year. But this sentencing has nothing to do with Trump, the 2016 election, or Russian Federation.

The firm, which is co-operating with the investigation and which fired him previous year, worked with former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort and his ex-colleague Mr Gates at a time when they were both political consultants in Ukraine.

Manafort faces a laundry list of charges with financial crimes related to work with the Ukrainian government, and Manafort has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He has also been charged with making false statements to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents about his lobbying work and financial background.

Mueller is preparing a report about Trump’s actions in the White House and whether he sought to obstruct the investigation into Russian meddling in the election, according to the Post.

Paul Manafort’s lawyers have argued Mueller’s investigation has gone off the rails.

The documents were filed in response to a motion by Manafort challenging Mueller’s authority to prosecute him.

Not a single major allegation in the Steele dossier has been proven, but that hasn’t stopped Mueller from using it as a “road map” for his special counsel probe. “He thereafter deliberately and repeatedly lied”, Mueller’s office wrote. The regulations “unequivocally state” that they are not meant to “create any [enforceable] rights” in a criminal proceeding, the special counsel continued.

The special counsel had already racked up guilty pleas from top advisers to President Trump and indictments of Russian trolls and the president’s former campaign chairman.

Under Justice Department guidelines, a subject of an investigation is a person whose conduct falls within the scope of a grand jury’s investigation.

He and Sean Hannity also discussed criticisms of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as it pertains to the Trump investigation.