Trump Goes Silent; Mueller Issues 30+ Subpoenas That Could Lead Directly To Donald

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Special Counsel for the Russia investigation Robert Mueller is continuing to build his case against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, who is one of four former associates of the president to face charges at this point and the only one to continue to contest those charges.

For Manafort’s trial, which is set to begin on July 10, Bloomberg News is now reporting that Mueller has requested a set of 35 blank subpoenas from a judge to use in compelling witnesses to appear.

The names of the individuals Mueller has in mind to compel to appear are not immediately apparent from an April 6 court filing on the matter. Whoever they are, they will be appearing in federal court in Virginia as a part of one of two cases against the former Trump associate.

Manafort faces a second trial in September in a Washington, D.C. court. The case in Virginia was the second to be brought against the former Trump campaign manager and includes charges of tax fraud; he also faces a criminal case in D.C. over his past work for pro-Russia political interests in the Ukraine.

As a part of that work, Manafort is alleged to have carried on with a vast money laundering scheme, which underlined the first set of charges against him. The charges set to be handled in D.C. court include allegations of “conspiracy to launder more than $30 million, making false statements, failing to follow lobbying disclosure laws and working as an unregistered foreign agent,” in the description of The Washington Post.

The president for his part has maintained through all of this scandal that he’s innocent. Concurrently, Manafort’s team has sought to undercut the special counsel’s case against the former Trump campaign manager by highlighting the fact that the money laundering and tax fraud charges don’t relate to the issue of Russian interference in our elections.

However, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein granted Mueller the authority to investigate related areas of concern, like Manafort’s finances.

Featured Image via MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images