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Trump Campaign Figures Charged Amid Russia Probe46:57
PlayThe first charges in the Russia investigation. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate surrender to the FBI, while another campaign adviser pleads guilty -- we look at what it means.
Clip from Tuesday's show: How pardoning ex-campaign aides could backfire on Trump
![Robert Mueller speaks in 2013, in Washington. Mueller is now leading the probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. (Evan Vucci/AP)](http://web.archive.org./web/20171031232823im_/http://d279m997dpfwgl.cloudfront.net/wp/2017/10/Mueller-cropped.jpg)
First indictments and word of a guilty plea yesterday – the first hard news out of the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller into whether the presidential campaign of Donald Trump colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 US election. Heavy charges against Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his aide. News of a guilty plea by Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopolous. Now what? This hour, On Point: indictments and a guilty plea from the Mueller investigation, and where they point. --Tom Ashbrook
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Michael Warren, senior writer at the Weekly Standard. (@MichaelRWarren)
Matt Zapotosky, Washington Post reporter covering the Justice Department. (@mattzap)
Noah Feldman, professor at Harvard Law School, constitutional law expert and author of "The Three Lives Of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President." (@NoahRFeldman)
From Tom's Reading List:
Weekly Standard: White House Watch: Mueller, Indictment And The Dossier — "Is Robert Mueller in danger of getting the boot? The special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 elections has been in the sights of allies of Donald Trump for awhile. And on Friday, Fox News reported on a 'fresh round of calls from conservative critics for his resignation' even before it was revealed Mueller's investigation had sealed its first indictment."
Politico: The Russians Have Succeeded Beyond Their Wildest Expectations — "America’s former top spymaster has a few things he’d like to clear up about the Russia investigation. James Clapper, a crusty ex-cargo pilot who rose through the Air Force ranks and retired as director of national intelligence in January, only to emerge publicly as one of President Donald Trump’s foremost critics, wants you to know that no matter how much Trump rants about the 'Russia hoax,' the 2016 hacking was not only real and aimed at electing Trump but constituted a major victory for a dangerous foreign adversary. 'The Russians,' he said, have “succeeded beyond their wildest expectations.'"
Washington Post: Three Former Trump Campaign Officials Charged By Special Counsel — "The charges are striking for their breadth, touching all levels of the Trump campaign and exploring possible personal financial wrongdoing by those involved, as well as what appeared to be a concerted effort by one campaign official to arrange a meeting with Russian officials."
Bloomberg: Manafort Indictment Is The Start Of A Complicated Story — "The indictment of Manafort and his associate Rick Gates means that this investigation is going deep into the weeds. Once it’s there, it could become permanently entangled with arcane bank accounts, front companies with weird names and pro-Russian Ukrainians with even more unpronounceable names."
This program aired on October 31, 2017.
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