Mueller
was also empowered by Rosenstein to investigate Manafort's payments
from Ukrainian politicians, a cornerstone of the Trump adviser's
decades-long lobbying career that has resulted in several financial
criminal charges so far.
The
revelation of the August 2 memo comes amid a broader court filing from
Mueller's prosecutors that offers a full-throated defense of their
investigative powers and indictments thus far. In the filing, the
special counsel's office argues that a federal judge should not throw
out Manafort's case. Manafort has sought to have the case dismissed,
arguing that the charges against him are outside of Mueller's authority.
The
filing Monday night crystallizes the extent to which Rosenstein, who
has come under fire by President Donald Trump and others, has backed the
investigation's actions. (Rosenstein oversees Mueller's investigation
following Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recusal.)
The
memo, attached to Monday night's court argument and not previously
disclosed even to Manafort, describes how Rosenstein's public order that
appointed Mueller in May left out some details so it didn't confirm
"specific investigations involving specific individuals."
Most
of the investigations and individuals that Rosenstein named in that
memo are now redacted -- amounting to almost a full page of withheld
information.
But one section isn't
redacted: The investigation Mueller could pursue against Manafort, with
the Department of Justice's backing.
The
special counsel's office was able to investigate two avenues of alleged
crimes Manafort committed -- working with Russians to influence the
election in violation of US law, and for crimes that arose from payments
Manafort received from former Ukrainian politicians.
The Ukrainian connections and payments form the basis of the federal criminal charges Manafort currently faces.
The investigation into Manafort's alleged collusion with Russians has not resulted in publicly known charges.
Also
in Monday night's filing, Mueller's prosecutors explain how they might
try to connect Manafort's pre-campaign lobbying work to possible crimes
during the 2016 campaign.
Mueller's
investigatory mission "would naturally cover ties that a former Trump
campaign manager had to Russian-associated political operatives,
Russian-backed politicians, and Russian oligarchs. It would also
naturally look into any interactions they may have had before and during
the campaign to plumb motives and opportunities to coordinate and to
expose possible channels for surreptitious communications. And
prosecutors would naturally follow the money trail from Manafort's
Ukrainian consulting activities."
Manafort
has previously said the charges he faces in federal court in DC and
Virginia have nothing to do with his work on the Trump campaign in 2016,
and the White House has distanced Donald Trump's presidential campaign
from Manafort. Manafort has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
Manafort
had claimed the special counsel's office had no authority to bring the
cases. "Each step the Special Counsel has taken against Mr. Manafort has
been without lawful authority," Manafort's lawyers wrote in mid-March.
The filing echoed an argument Manafort made in a related civil lawsuit
against Mueller and the Justice Department, which also asks the court to
throw out his charges. Arguments for that case are scheduled for this
Wednesday, before the same judge overseeing the criminal case against
Manafort.
But Mueller's team Monday
night refutes Manafort's complaints in its 45-page legal brief. "Under
this regime, a runaway Special Counsel is an impossibility," the
prosecutors write, referring to current laws that regulate the office of
a special counsel in the Justice Department.
Manafort is scheduled to face a jury in Virginia in July, then awaits trial in DC in September.
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