WEBVTT - Russia Probe Expands with Raid on Manafort's Home (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>The Washington Post is reporting that last month, FBI agents

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<v Speaker 1>conducted a pre dawn raid of the Alexander, Alexandria, Virginia

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<v Speaker 1>home of Paul Manafort, Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort

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<v Speaker 1>is a key figure in Special Consul Robert Mueller's investigation

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<v Speaker 1>into potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, in

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<v Speaker 1>particular Russia's efforts to influence the election. The agents came

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<v Speaker 1>to armed with a search warrant that requested documents related

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<v Speaker 1>to taxes and banking. The Post said they reportedly left

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<v Speaker 1>with binders full of material. A Manafort spokesman subsequently confirmed

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<v Speaker 1>that agents had conducted the search and said that Manafort.

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<v Speaker 1>Manafort had cooperated with me to talk about it is

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<v Speaker 1>Bradley Moss, a partner at Mark's Aid PLC here in Washington.

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<v Speaker 1>He specializes in national security matters. Brad, thanks for joining us. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>Manafort has been voluntarily producing documents for the congressional committees

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<v Speaker 1>looking into Russia. What does the fact the FBI felt

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<v Speaker 1>it it still needed to conduct a raid tell us

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<v Speaker 1>about the state of the investigation. Absolutely happened to give

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<v Speaker 1>you a hand here. So the fact that this raid

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<v Speaker 1>was still conducted the fact that they still got a

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<v Speaker 1>judge to sign off on the search warrant has to

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<v Speaker 1>raise eyebrows and raise concerns that the documentation that was

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<v Speaker 1>being produced by Mr Manafort's legal team was insufficient. In

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<v Speaker 1>that the FBI, particularly Special Counsel um lest Mr Mueller,

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<v Speaker 1>had concluded the additional records that Mr Manafort had not

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<v Speaker 1>been turning over, that there was probable cause to believe

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<v Speaker 1>that the records that were located at Mr Manafort's home

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<v Speaker 1>in Alexandria reflected evidence of a crime. And the fact

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<v Speaker 1>that they didn't have to announce themselves. They got what's

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<v Speaker 1>called a no knock warrant. They could just barge in

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<v Speaker 1>without announcing FBI from the door indicates they were able

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<v Speaker 1>to convince the judge that there was a credible fear

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<v Speaker 1>that if they had announced themselves, Mr Manafort would have

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<v Speaker 1>destroyed the records. Now, this in and of itself doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>necessarily mean there's much more to this than Mr Manafort's

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<v Speaker 1>own troubles. It doesn't mean there's something else beyond In

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<v Speaker 1>terms of the overarching Rush investigation. We don't know what

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<v Speaker 1>they found. It sounds like very much has to do

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<v Speaker 1>with financial proprieties if that ultimately turns out to be

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<v Speaker 1>the case. But it'll be interesting to see how this

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<v Speaker 1>plays out whether or not the Special Counsel is essentially

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<v Speaker 1>using a smaller fish like Mr Manafort to try to

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<v Speaker 1>gain leverage and get information out of him to go

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<v Speaker 1>after juicier and larger targets. Yeah, talk a little more

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<v Speaker 1>about how Manafort fits into this broader investigation. Is he

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<v Speaker 1>more of a of a standalone figure in it that

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<v Speaker 1>had his own particular financial issues, or is he potentially

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<v Speaker 1>connected to other broader allegations involving the Trump campaign. That

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<v Speaker 1>remains somewhat the sixty four thou dollar question because the

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<v Speaker 1>honest answers, we don't truly know. There was there were leaks,

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<v Speaker 1>and I said they were concerned even before UM this

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<v Speaker 1>big investigation started with respect to Mr Manaford and his

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<v Speaker 1>financial ties to certain political groups and organizations in Eastern Europe,

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<v Speaker 1>particularly pro Russian Ukrainian groups. So there's a question about

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<v Speaker 1>whether or not some of these financial issues and financial

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<v Speaker 1>proprieties were unrelated to his work on the Trump campaign.

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<v Speaker 1>There was whether or not he had properly registered as

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<v Speaker 1>a foreign agent under the Foreign Agent Registration Act. So

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<v Speaker 1>all that would would somewhat be separate. But there's also

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<v Speaker 1>been a lot of discussion, and admittedly this must have

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<v Speaker 1>been officially disclosed one way or the other ongoing investigation,

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<v Speaker 1>but the leagues that have come out in the media

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<v Speaker 1>have suggested the possibility that if there was some measure

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<v Speaker 1>of financial coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian

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<v Speaker 1>government or associates of the Russian government, that Mr Manafort

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<v Speaker 1>would have been the go between. That if anybody had

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<v Speaker 1>that level of contact, whether intentionally or possibly unwittingly, that

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<v Speaker 1>Mr Manafort would have been that person in the middle.

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<v Speaker 1>And he was also not in that meeting involving Donald

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<v Speaker 1>Trump Junior and the Russian lawyer that we were all

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<v Speaker 1>talking so much about over the last couple of weeks. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>he was president, which, of course, you know, if you

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<v Speaker 1>really think that this is going to be a known

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<v Speaker 1>nothing you know and nothing meeting with no real information,

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<v Speaker 1>why would you bring your campaign manager there. But he

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<v Speaker 1>was president, And we don't know beyond the emails that

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<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump Jr. Has published, we don't know what else

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<v Speaker 1>necessarily occurred. We know what they told us in public statements.

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<v Speaker 1>But there's been concerns that there were more conversations or

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<v Speaker 1>powerful discussions beyond this one meeting, and that's part of

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<v Speaker 1>what this raid. It's part of what the document request

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<v Speaker 1>of both Congress and Special Counsel been making to Mr Manaford,

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<v Speaker 1>as well as to Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr.

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<v Speaker 1>Have been looking into, is whether or not this was

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<v Speaker 1>just a one off meeting or part of a larger

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<v Speaker 1>coordinations game. Brad only about thirty seconds more, uh is

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<v Speaker 1>used the phrase probable cause um, suggesting that there's a

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<v Speaker 1>more a likelihood that crime was committed. Um. Should we

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<v Speaker 1>take that as a as a significant sign of of

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<v Speaker 1>an escalation in this investigation and the likelihood of an

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<v Speaker 1>indictment of some sort coming soon. Yeah, it's it's certainly

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<v Speaker 1>an escalation if they're not used simply using subpoenas, which

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<v Speaker 1>are more easily challenged and have a lower threshold. Securing

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<v Speaker 1>a search warrant requires more revidence, requires going to the judge,

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<v Speaker 1>requires more eventuary basis, It doesn't mean indictmental happen, and

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't. Even if there's an indictment means the person

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<v Speaker 1>is guilty. Everybody's in a sent until proven guilty. But

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<v Speaker 1>the fact they were able to secure this. The fact

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<v Speaker 1>that they already took this step is most definitely an

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<v Speaker 1>escalation of the process. Okay, I want to thank our

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<v Speaker 1>guest Bradley Moss. He's a partner at um Mark's AID PLC.

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<v Speaker 1>He specializes in national security matters. Talking about the raid

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<v Speaker 1>on the home of Paul Manafort, donald Trump's former campaign chairman.

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<v Speaker 1>I have a little breaking news right here. Uh. Donald

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<v Speaker 1>Trump has selected a new chairman of the Federal Energy

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<v Speaker 1>Regulatory Commission. It is Neil chatter Gee. He is already

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<v Speaker 1>been confirmed to serve run the commission. Now he's going

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<v Speaker 1>to be the chair