House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called again for an outside investigation into whether Trump campaign associates colluded with Russia during the 2016 election after a federal grand jury indicted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his former business associate Rick Gates.
“Even with an accelerating Special Counsel investigation inside the Justice Department, and investigations inside the Republican Congress, we still need an outside, fully independent investigation to expose Russia’s meddling in our election and the involvement of Trump officials,” Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement Monday. “Defending the integrity of our democracy demands that Congress look forward to counter Russian aggression and prevent future meddling with our elections.”
A federal grand jury indicted Manafort and Gates on Friday, and the indictment was unsealed Monday morning.
The two surrendered to federal authorities Monday morning, and are scheduled to appear in court at 1:30 p.m.
Manafort and Gates were indicted on 12 counts, including conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to launder money, the special counsel’s office announced.
According to the indictment, Manafort laundered $18 million, and Gates transferred $3 million from offshore accounts to other accounts he controlled.
The charges against Manafort and Gates are the first related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
President Trump has criticized Mueller and his probe as a “witch hunt,” and some Republicans have called for the former FBI director to step down.
