Paul Manafort, the former campaign manager of Donald Trump’s ultimately successful bid for the presidency, surrendered to the FBI this morning. He was indicted late last week by special prosuector Robert Mueller, probing the campaign’s links to Russian interference in the 2016 general election.
The charges against Mr. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman were not immediately clear but represent a significant escalation in a special counsel investigation that has cast a shadow over the president’s first year in office. Also charged was Mr. Manafort’s former business associate Rick Gates, who was also told to surrender.
Mr. Manafort walked into the F.B.I.’s field office in Washington about 8:15 a.m. with his lawyer.
The sealed indictment’s existence was leaked to CNN on Friday, but not its target, leading to a weekend of furious speculation about which of Trump’s cronies would be first to face charges. Manafort and rapidly-disgraced Michael Flynn were the easy guesses; others thought to be in the line of the fire include Jared Kushner and the idiot sons of Flynn and Trump himself.