WASHINGTON – Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort surrendered to authorities Monday morning.
Manafort and a former business associate Rick Gates are facing charges as a result of the Russia investigation being headed up by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Manafort and Gates both turned themselves in to the FBI and have now been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy against the United States and other felony charges. Both men pleaded not guilty Monday.
The indictments contain 12 counts, including conspiracy to launder money, failing to register as a foreign agent, false statements, and multiple counts of failing to file reports for foreign bank accounts.
In addition, a former foreign policy aide on the Trump campaign team has pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents working for Mueller.
It was revealed Monday that George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty on Oct. 5 to one count of lying to FBI agents about the nature of his interactions with "foreign nationals" who he thought had ties to senior Russian government officials.
Papadopoulos is the first person to face criminal charges that cite interactions between Trump campaign associates and Russian intermediaries during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump aides say he played a limited role in the campaign and had no access to Trump.
Meanwhile, Politico reports that a powerful Democratic lobbyist is stepping down after Mueller's team started looking into his lobbying firm as well.
Tony Podesta is leaving the Podesta Group which he founded, and his departure is apparently connected to the investigation of Manafort's finances. His brother is John Podesta, who was Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman.
Speculation had been swirling over the weekend ahead of the first criminal charges to be handed down in the special investigation.
Appearing on ABC News ahead of the revelation, the Democratic Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., did speculate that Manafort could be indicted.
A White House lawyer says Trump isn't worried about what Manafort and other aides could tell Mueller.
He does appear frustrated though, lashing out on Twitter over the weekend, calling on Congress to investigate the funding by Democrats, including the Clinton campaign, of the 2016 campaign dossier that used information from Russia.
And some GOP lawmakers are frustrated too.
They're calling for Democrats John Podesta and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., to provide more information about the Democratic Party paying for that controversial dossier.
All of this comes as Republicans get ready to move ahead on Trump's top priority by unveiling a tax reform plan this week.
For right now though, tax reform is being burried by news of the Russia investigation charges.
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