WASHINGTON _ Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein explicitly authorized special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to investigate Paul Manafort's work for Ukraine's former pro-Kremlin government along with the allegations that he conspired with Russian officials to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, according to new documents filed in federal court.
Manafort, who served as President Donald Trump's campaign manager, has been charged with conspiracy, money laundering, tax evasion and bank fraud related to a lucrative and undisclosed lobbying operation for the former Ukraine regime. He is fighting those charges in federal court in Virginia and Washington; he has not been charged with election-related crimes.
Prosecutors filed the documents on Monday night in response to Manafort's effort to dismiss the case against him by arguing that it is unrelated to and exceeds Mueller's mandate to investigate Russian attempts to interfere with the U.S. presidential campaign.
The argument is baseless, prosecutors said. When Rosenstein appointed Mueller last May, he authorized him to probe "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation."
Rosenstein included additional detail in a newly disclosed memo from August, a redacted version of which was filed with the court on Monday night. The deputy attorney general continues to supervise Mueller's work because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the matter last year, given his own Russia contacts in 2016.
The memo "provides a more specific description" of Mueller's authority to investigate allegations that Manafort improperly received payments from Ukraine's former president or conspired with Russians during the campaign.
