Special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russian interference in the election has dramatically escalated, with authorities indicting former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and campaign official Rick Gates with money laundering, making false statements and other charges.
It was also revealed on Monday morning that George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser to Trump’s campaign, secretly pleaded guilty earlier this month to lying to the FBI about the campaign’s outreach to Russian officials.
While neither move directly implicates Trump, the actions show how Mueller is accelerating his sprawling probe into possible collusion between campaign aides and the Kremlin, which has been accused by intelligence officials of meddling in the 2016 election.