Home of Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign chairman, searched in FBI probe

FBI agents have searched one of the homes of U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, whose past foreign political work has been swept into the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Manafort spokesperson Jason Malonisaid in a statement that FBI agents had obtained a warrant and searched one of Manafort's homes, but he would not say when the search occurred. The Washington Post, which first reported the raid, said agents working for special counsel Robert Mueller conducted the search the morning of July 26 at Manafort's home in Alexandria, Va.

"Mr. Manafort has consistently co-operated with law enforcement and other serious inquiries and did so on this occasion as well," Maloni said.

Manafort, who led Trump's campaign until August 2016, has denied any wrongdoing.

The use of a search warrant shows law enforcement officials have convinced a judge there is probable cause to believe a crime may have been committed.

In recent months, former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn andManaforthave turned over documents to congressional committees investigating the election interference.

Trump Tower meeting examined

One focus of the multiple probes is a June 2016 meeting Manafort attended with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump Jr. The meeting arose afterNataliaVeselnitskaya, described as a "Russian government lawyer,"sentemailsto the Trump campaign team with thepromise of information that could damage the campaign of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

During his Senate intelligence committee interview ,Manafortprovided his recollection of the Trump Tower meeting and turned over contemporaneous notes he took during the gathering. The interview was confined to that meeting.

Manaforthas also turned over other documents to the Senate intelligence committee as well as about 400 pages of records to the Senate judiciary committee.

Word of the raid is the latest revelation about Mueller's investigation, which had been operating in relative secrecy compared with numerous congressional probes looking at the election. In recent days, it's become clear the former FBI director is using a grand jury in Washington in addition to one in the Eastern District of Virginia, where investigators also have been looking into Flynn's actions.

Also, FBI agents have been asking witnesses since the spring about $530,000 US worth of lobbying and investigative work carried out by Flynn's firm, Flynn Intel Group, according to a person familiar with the investigation. That work sought the extradition of an exiled Turkish cleric living in the U.S. Through his attorney, Flynn has declined to comment on the investigation.

• White House says it didn't know Flynn lobbied for Turkey

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive details of the investigation, said FBI agents have also been asking about Flynn's business partner, Bijan Kian, who served on the Trump presidential transition. Kian has not responded to multiple attempts to contact him over several months.

Meanwhile, the judiciary committee said Wednesday it has also received about 250 pages of documents from Trump Jr. and about 20,000 pages from the Trump campaign.

The content of the documents was not immediately clear. The committee said it received the Manafort and Trump campaign documents on Aug. 2 and the records from Trump Jr. on Aug. 4.

Judiciary committee leaders have also been in talks with Trump Jr. and Manafort about private interviews. The committee initially called for them to testify publicly, but lawmakers have since said they were negotiating the terms of their appearances.

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