Manafort Blocks FBI from Obtaining Transcript of Interview with Senate Committee

Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Attorneys for Paul Manafort, who served as President Trump’s campaign chairman, is trying to prevent special counsel Robert Mueller from acquiring a transcript of his interview with the Senate Intelligence Committee in July.

CNN reports that the FBI said it obtained permission from Manafort’s attorney to view the transcript, but the committee says it was instructed to not disclose the document.

Although Mueller’s team apparently received permission to view documents that Manafort submitted to the committee, those records have not yet been turned over.

The documents are related to a meeting that Manafort attended with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and two Russian lobbyists at Trump Tower last July.

CNN reports:

The previously undisclosed fight, described to CNN by multiple sources, underscores the new challenges as congressional committees and Mueller’s operation head into a more intense phase of their parallel — and sometimes, conflicting — investigations into Russian election meddling and any collusion with Trump associates.

There are three committees on Capitol Hill competing for information and witnesses — and there is little, if any, communication among them, even as congressional officials say they all are preparing to intensify the pace of their inquiries this fall. While the Hill investigations into Russia’s meddling have been underway since the beginning of the year, the next few months could be the most consequential in terms of hearing from witnesses and gathering documents, sources say.

That could mean early signs of tension between the special counsel and the Hill become more pronounced as the competing congressional inquiries try to determine whether there was any collusion and as Mueller potentially pursues criminal charges.