Special Counsel Robert Mueller has asked Paul Manafort, Trump’s ex-campaign manager, to surrender. he will be charged alongside Rick Gates, which was a business associate.
Update: Manafort turns himself in, entering a federal building in Virginia. He will be indicted for tax crimes and “other offenses”.
Update 2: Manafort is accused of laundering some 18 million dollars among 12 charges which also include “conspiracy against the US”. This sounds quite serious, but may not necessarily lead to Trump, at least not now.
Mueller is investigating the influence of Russia on the 2016 elections. Manafort had reportedly had ties to Russia and other countries in the region. His house was raided by Mueller’s team a few months ago and he was suspected for not appropriately disclosing his foreign lobbying.
President Donald Trump has already tweeted angrily over the weekend regarding the upcoming charges. This comes in a week when Trump is expected to announce his nomination for the new Chair of the Fed. He may get distracted, to say the least.
The last remaining candidates to head the Fed are John Taylor, a hawk, and Jerome Powell, a dove. The latest reports suggest that Powell is leading the race, and this has weakened the US dollar.
More: EUR/USD recovers on dollar weakness, some Catalan calm