Manafort’s Home Searched as Part of Mueller Inquiry

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and ADAM GOLDMAN
© 2017 New York Times News Service

WASHINGTON — Investigators for Special Counsel Robert Mueller recently searched the Northern Virginia home of President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, for tax documents and foreign banking records, a sign that the inquiry into Manafort has broadened, according to a person briefed on the matter.

The search was carried out at Manafort’s Alexandria, Virginia, home shortly after Manafort met with investigators for the Senate Intelligence Committee on July 25. In that meeting, Manafort answered questions and provided investigators with notes from a 2016 meeting between Trump campaign officials and Russians claiming to have damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

Manafort’s spokesman confirmed that an FBI raid had been carried out.

“Mr. Manafort has consistently cooperated with law enforcement and other serious inquiries and did so on this occasion as well,” said Jason Maloni, a spokesman for Manafort. News of the search warrant was first reported Wednesday by The Washington Post.

Until now, it was only known that Manafort was under investigation for his business dealings with his son-in-law, his role in the 2016 meeting between Trump campaign officials and the Russians and whether his work for the Ukranian government violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

The government rarely prosecutes cases related to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and Manafort’s consulting firm retroactively filed forms with the Justice Department last month to be in compliance with the act.

But the search warrant for the tax and foreign banking records suggests that investigators are looking at criminal charges related to the federal Bank Secrecy Act, which requires Americans to report their foreign banking accounts.