Trump’s former campaign chair Paul Manafort filed a civil lawsuit in a DC court Wednesday against Robert Mueller, Rod Rosenstein and the Justice Department.
The lawsuit alleges Mueller has gone outside of his scope as Special Counsel and the charges brought by Mueller have nothing to do with the 2016 presidential election.
CNBC reported:
“The actions of DOJ and Mr. Rosenstein in issuing the Appointment Order, and Mr. Mueller’s actions pursuant to the authority the Order granted him, were arbitrary, capricious, and not in accordance with the law,” the suit reads.
The appointment order authorizing Mueller as special counsel permits him to investigate any matters that “may arise directly from the investigation.”Manafort was indicted Oct. 27 on 12 counts related to unlawful financial dealings. He pleaded not guilty and has been contesting the charges. A trial is scheduled to begin in May
Excerpt from the 17 page complaint states Mueller has gone outside of his original ‘Russian collusion’ investigation of the 2016 presidential election:
Mr. Mueller’s Investigation of Matters Beyond His Original Jurisdiction
36. Early in the process, Mr. Mueller’s investigation diverged from its focus on
alleged collusion between the Russian government and President Trump’s campaign toward Mr.
Manafort, who served as President Trump’s campaign manager for a few months in 2016.37. The investigation of Mr. Manafort is completely unmoored from the Special
Counsel’s original jurisdiction to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian
government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.” It has
instead focused on unrelated, decade-old business dealings—specifically, Ukraine political
campaign consulting activities of Mr. Manafort.38. The Special Counsel has paid particular attention to the involvement of Mr.
Manafort’s company in a lobbying campaign that ended in 2014, Mr. Manafort’s bank accounts
and tax filings through 2014, and the personal expenditures Mr. Manafort allegedly made using
funds earned from his political consulting work.39. Those alleged dealings had no connection whatsoever to the 2016 presidential
election or even to Donald Trump. Nor were they uncovered in the course of the Special
Counsel’s probe into President Trump’s campaign. On the contrary, those allegations had been
widely known since at least 2007, when prominent news outlets reported that, in 2005, Mr.
Manafort had begun working for Viktor Yanukovych, a Ukrainian politician, to reinvent his public image.Other reports around the same time claimed that Mr. Manafort’s company never
registered as a lobbying entity for Mr. Yanukovych even though Mr. Manafort met with the
United States Ambassador on Mr. Yanukovych’s behalf.
Read the full 17 page complaint here.
NEW: Paul Manafort is suing Robert Mueller, the DOJ and Rod Rosensteinhttps://t.co/kwhnMjeT2R
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) January 3, 2018
This story is still developing. The Gateway Pundit will update as soon as more information becomes available.