Special counsel Robert Mueller continues to put the heat on Donald Trump and his 2016 presidential campaign as he reportedly slapped Team Trump with a subpoena in October for all Russia-related documents.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the move “marked Mr. Mueller’s first official order for information from the campaign” as he continues to investigate whether they colluded with Russia during last year’s election.
More from the report:
The subpoena, which requested documents and emails from the listed campaign officials that reference a set of Russia-related keywords, marked Mr. Mueller’s first official order for information from the campaign, according to the person. The subpoena didn’t compel any officials to testify before Mr. Mueller’s grand jury, the person said.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
The subpoena caught the campaign by surprise, the person said. The campaign had previously been voluntarily complying with the special counsel’s requests for information, and had been sharing with Mr. Mueller’s team the documents it provided to congressional committees as part of their probes of Russian interference into the 2016 presidential election.
The Trump campaign is providing documents in response to the subpoena on an “ongoing†basis, the person said.
The move by Mueller suggests that, while the Trump campaign claims to be “voluntarily” handing over all Russia-related documentation, they aren’t being fully forthcoming – or at least that they haven’t turned over something he’s looking for.
After all, if they were being fully transparent, he wouldn’t have been compelled to issue a legal order for these Russia-related docs. The special counsel team likely knows what they’re looking for, and so far the Trump campaign has not turned it over.
Ultimately, the subpoena is the latest indication that the special counsel investigation is not even closing to letting up.
When it comes to its connections to Russia, Robert Mueller isn’t taking the Trump campaign’s word. If they don’t turn over the Russia documentation he’s looking for, not only will he know about it, but he can now bring charges against them for obstructing an investigation.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
