Special counsel Robert Mueller filed a new indictment on Thursday against former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort and former campaign aide Rick Gates, charging them with new tax and bank fraud crimes and hiking the amount of money they allegedly laundered to more than $30 million.
The 32-count indictment was filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia. A previous indictment, charging the pair with money laundering, conspiracy and other offenses had been filed in federal court in Washington in October.
Some of the charges in Virginia mirror the charges in Washington, while others are brand new. Manafort and Gates are both accused of tax evasion and not reporting money in foreign accounts, and they are also accused of defrauding banks on paperwork for real-estate loans.
In addition, while Manafort was originally indicted on charges he laundered $18 million through offshore bank accounts, the new indictment pushes that sum to $30 million. Gates remains accused of laundering $3 million.
Mueller explained in a status report that some of the new charges could not be brought in Washington without the approval of the defendants.
“Prior to instituting this criminal action, the Special Counsel’s Office met with defense counsel to go over the proof underlying the bank fraud charges … and to provide counsel an opportunity to present any arguments as to why these charges should not be brought,” Mueller wrote in a status update on the case.
Mueller said he was prepared to bring all the charges in Washington if the defendants would waive venue but one of them chose not to.
Mueller is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible ties to the Trump campaign. The charges against Manafort and Gates, however, are related to money from their lobbying work for pro-Russian political figures in Ukraine.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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