Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, turned himself in Monday to the FBI, CNN reports. Manafort was indicted under seal on Friday, along with Rick Gates, who also worked on Trump’s campaign. Gates is a longtime business associate of Manafort. The indictment contains 12 counts: conspiracy against the U.S., conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. The indictment signals a dramatic new phase of special counsel Robert Mueller’s wide-ranging investigation into possible collusion between the Russian government and members of Trump’s team as well as potential obstruction of justice and financial crimes. In addition to the Manfort and Gates charges, George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI.
Manafort, whose work for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has attracted scrutiny from federal investigators, has denied financial wrongdoing regarding his Ukraine-related payments, his bank accounts in offshore tax shelters, and various real-estate transactions over the years. Mueller has taken a broad approach to his mandate that includes a focus on the financial dealings of Trump’s team. The FBI in July executed a no-knock search warrant with guns drawn at Manafort’s home in Alexandria, Va., seizing financial and tax documents, including some that had already been provided to congressional investigators.