#MuellerMonday: Everything You Need To Know About The Indictments Rolling In
By: Kayla Pasacreta
After Friday's reports that head investigator Mueller's team would be handing out their first indictment on Monday, everyone in Washington knew today would be a complete sh**t show. And as expected, it totally is. First, let's answer some pressing questions you all have.
Who is Mueller and why does he matter?!
Robert Mueller, photo via Getty Images
Robert Mueller was appointed by the Justice Department as a special counsel to investigate the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, after growing concerns that Russia influenced the election. Mueller is #qualified af; he served as the FBI director from 2001-2013. If you want Trump impeached, instill your hopes in this guy.
Manafort on the way to turn himself in, photo via Reuters
Who in the hell got the indictment?!
The most notable person so far to receive an indictment is Paul Manafort, ex-campaign manager of the Trump campaign. He was known as Trump's go-to-man and resigned after reports of his million-dollar-ties to Russians. According to the Huffington Post, the indictment says, “In order to hide Ukraine payments from United States authorities, from approximately 2006 through at least 2016, Manafort and Gates laundered the money through scores of United States and foreign corporations, partnerships, and bank accounts.” He was indicted on 12 counts by a tax jury, one of the most important counts is conspiracy against the United States (talk about patriotism)! Manafort turned himself into the FBI this morning. Though the charges aren't specifically related to Trump, they're an essential starting point to learn more about ties Russia had to the campaign.
Anyone else?
Yep! Another big person to pay attention to today is George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser. Today, it was leaked he pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents. The prosecutor's statement on Papdaopoulos states he, “made material false statements and material omissions” during an interview with the FBI on January 27th.
So, is Trump getting impeached or nah?
Calm down! We still don't have any concrete evidence or findings that he specifically knew about the shady business making with Russia. We'll have to wait to see what else Mueller finds.
What has Trump said about it?
His deny, deny game is strong. Check out his tweets this morning below.
That's all for now, folks. Stay tuned for any new developments.
