Paul Manafort and Former Business Associate Rick Gates Told To Surrender to FBI … Manafort Under Investigation of Federal Tax Law & Money Laundering

 SPECIAL COUNSEL MUELLER HAS HIS FIRST SCALP …

As reported at the New York Times, Paul Manafort has surrendered himself to the FBI. Manafort and his former business associate Rick Gates are the first to be charged by special counsel Mueller. The news was illegally leaked Friday that a federal grand jury had approved the first charges in the wide-ranging Russia investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller by CNN.

Manafort had been under investigation for violations of federal tax law, money laundering and whether he appropriately disclosed his foreign lobbying. But what does this have to do with any form of collusion that may or may not have taken place during the presidential campaign? The Manafort charges does not come as a surprise after the FBI raided his home this past summer.  The indictment is expected to be unsealed later on Monday.

Paul Manafort surrendered to federal authorities Monday morning, after a person close to the case said the first charges were filed in a special counsel investigation.

The charges against Mr. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, were not immediately clear but represent a significant escalation in a special counsel investigation that has cast a shadow over the president’s first year in office. Also charged was Mr. Manafort’s former business associate Rick Gates, who was also told to surrender on Monday, the person said.

Mr. Manafort walked into the F.B.I.’s field office in Washington at about 8:15 a.m. with his lawyer.

Mr. Gates is a longtime protégé and junior partner of Mr. Manafort. His name appears on documents linked to companies that Mr. Manafort’s firm set up in Cyprus to receive payments from politicians and businesspeople in Eastern Europe, records reviewed by The New York Times show.

Mr. Manafort had been under investigation for violations of federal tax law, money laundering and whether he appropriately disclosed his foreign lobbying.

UPDATE I: ABC News reports … Paul Manafort, Rick Gates indicted by federal grand jury on 12 charges, including conspiracy against the US.