Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort’s possible crimes goes back until at least 2006, CNN reports:
The FBI’s warrant for a July search of Manafort’s Alexandria, Virginia, home said the investigation centered on possible crimes committed as far back as January 2006, according to a source briefed on the investigation.
The broad time frame is the latest indication that Mueller’s team is going well beyond Russian meddling during the campaign as part of its investigation of Trump campaign associates. Manafort, who has been the subject of an FBI investigation for three years, has emerged as a focal point for Mueller.
Justice Department prosecutors concluded last year that there wasn’t enough evidence to bring charges against Manafort or any of the other US subjects in the Ukraine probe, according to sources briefed on the investigation. A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment.
Mueller’s team could be facing a deadline if they want to bring charges arising from older tax returns: The six-year statute of limitations for Manafort’s taxes filed in 2011 expires October 15. They already may be too late for the years prior to 2011.
But the government could have more time depending on the exact nature of the charges that it wants to bring.
