WASHINGTON — Dramatically escalating the pressure and stakes, special counsel Robert Mueller filed additional criminal charges Thursday against President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman and his business associate. Manafort and Gates, who also worked on Trump’s campaign, both pleaded not guilty after that indictment. The charges against Manafort and Gates don’t relate to any allegations of misconduct related to Trump’s campaign, though Mueller is continuing to investigate potential ties to the Kremlin. It also charges Manafort and Gates with filing false tax returns from 2010 through 2014 and in most of those years concealing their foreign bank accounts from the IRS. Mueller was appointed in May to investigate potential co-ordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Source: National Post February 22, 2018 21:49 UTC