The Special Counsel’s Office filed new documents on April 23 in its case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Manafort moved to have evidence thrown out, and the Special Counsel’s Office responded in court, defending the legitimacy of its evidence in three new filings. Here are some of the key takeaways from these new documents:
1. Robert Mueller investigating June 2016 Trump Tower meeting
In June 2016, Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer who claimed she had dirt on Hillary Clinton. One of the new filings stated that the search warrant for Manafort’s residence included “communications, records, documents and other files involving any of the attendees of the June 9, 2016 meeting at Trump Tower.” This shows an official confirmation directly from the Special Counsel’s Office, and not news reports, that Mueller is investigating the Trump Tower meeting.
Read more: What Mueller wants to ask Trump and why
2. Three sets of unknown criminal allegations against Manafort
The search warrant for Manafort’s residence was based on a 41-page affidavit, but much of the affidavit has been heavily redacted. Mueller’s filing explains the affidavit described possible violations of 10 laws, “arising from three sets of activities.” The affidavit explains these three sets of activities in detail, but the public version of the document is so heavily redacted we do not know what these three activities are.
A previous filing from the Special Counsel’s Office said that the affidavits have been redacted to protect the identities of sources and “to preserve the confidentiality of ongoing investigations.” There could be more criminal activities of Manafort’s that are not public knowledge yet, and they may be related to Mueller’s ongoing Russia investigation.
3. FBI did not use a no-knock warrant
Reports have said that Manafort’s home was raided using a no-knock warrant. However, Mueller’s court filings dispute this reporting. The filing says that the warrant did not call for a no-knock entry into Manafort’s home. Instead, agents were allowed to enter Manafort’s home to execute the warrant between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Watch: Raids are only OK to Trump if he is the one doing the raiding
Investigations
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is moving forward with the investigation into possible coordination between Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russian government during the 2016 election, while Congress’ investigations vary in their direction and effectiveness.