“Federal investigators exploring whether Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian spies have seized on Trump and his associates’ financial ties to Russia as one of the most fertile avenues for moving their probe forward,” CNN reports.
“Sources described an investigation that has widened to focus on possible financial crimes, some unconnected to the 2016 elections, alongside the ongoing scrutiny of possible illegal coordination with Russian spy agencies and alleged attempts by President Trump and others to obstruct the FBI investigation. Even investigative leads that have nothing to do with Russia but involve Trump associates are being referred to the special counsel to encourage subjects of the investigation to cooperate.”
Two interesting items:
- Investigators have discovered communications from Russian spies about their attempts to coordinate with Paul Manafort and other Trump associates on damaging information about Hillary Clinton.
- Former Trump adviser Carter Page had been under a FISA warrant since 2014, longer than previously reported.