Washington prepares for the unexpected as Russia investigation unfolds
Democrats fret that  President Trump  might try to shut down the inquiry. Republicans worry that their last best hope for a legislative win  a tax overhaul  could fall victim to the scandal. And  the president’s  denial that  his  campaign worked in any way with Russia continues to be tested by new disclosures.
The only person with any significant control over events  special counsel Robert S. Mueller III  offered no hints Monday on his next move beyond the day’s bombshells — legal filings that included the indictment of two former Trump campaign officials and the guilty plea of a third.
 President Trump 's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort  Manafort's former business associate Rick Gates and  Trump  campaign adviser George Papadopoulos have all been charged in the special counsel's investigation into Russian election interference. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)
The release of the charges followed the disclosure last week that a prominent Democratic lawyer and a news outlet backed by a major Republican donor had at different times paid a firm that compiled opposition research on Trump alleging ties to Russian interests that could threaten national security.
“The charges brought last week could easily result in prosecutions extending into 2019  just on the trial level  not even the appellate level ” said Jonathan Turley  a law professor at George Washington University Law School. “That is going to continue to have a dysfunctional impact on the Trump administration.”
Even the president found himself caught off guard when he prematurely tweeted his own absolution hours after indictments were announced against his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and a top deputy  Rick Gates. At 10:25 a.m.   Trump  felt it safe to boast that the announcements did not directly reference  his  campaign.
“Sorry  but this is years ago  before Paul Manafort was part of the campaign ”  Trump  wrote on Twitter. “. . . Also  there is NO COLLUSION!”
Minutes later  Mueller’s team announced a previously secret guilty plea of a third  Trump  campaign adviser  George Papadopoulos  who worked on foreign policy in a volunteer capacity. In court papers  Papadopoulos described in detail his 2016 efforts to arrange contacts with people he knew to be Russian agents  including one person who had told him about Russian “dirt” on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton  including “thousands of emails.”
Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to giving false statements to federal agents in his initial interviews about the interactions. He now says that he discussed the Russian overtures he had received with several other people in the Trump campaign  including a “senior policy adviser ” a “campaign supervisor” and a “high-ranking campaign official.” Among the campaign officials he emailed were Manafort  campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and national campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) put out a warning to Trump not to interfere with the ongoing probe. “If he does  Congress must respond swiftly  unequivocally and in a bipartisan way to ensure that the investigation continues ” he said in a statement.
Democrats fret that  [TGT]might try to shut down the inquiry. Republicans worry that their last best hope for a legislative win  a tax overhaul  could fall victim to the scandal. And  the president’s  denial that  his  campaign worked in any way with Russia continues to be tested by new disclosures.
The only person with any significant control over events  special counsel Robert S. Mueller III  offered no hints Monday on his next move beyond the day’s bombshells — legal filings that included the indictment of two former [TGT] campaign officials and the guilty plea of a third.
 President Trump 's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort  Manafort's former business associate Rick Gates and  [TGT]  campaign adviser George Papadopoulos have all been charged in the special counsel's investigation into Russian election interference. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)
The release of the charges followed the disclosure last week that a prominent Democratic lawyer and a news outlet backed by a major Republican donor had at different times paid a firm that compiled opposition research on [TGT] alleging ties to Russian interests that could threaten national security.
“The charges brought last week could easily result in prosecutions extending into 2019  just on the trial level  not even the appellate level ” said Jonathan Turley  a law professor at George Washington University Law School. “That is going to continue to have a dysfunctional impact on the Trump administration.”
Even the president found himself caught off guard when he prematurely tweeted his own absolution hours after indictments were announced against his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and a top deputy  Rick Gates. At 10:25 a.m.   [TGT]felt it safe to boast that the announcements did not directly reference  his  campaign.
“Sorry  but this is years ago  before Paul Manafort was part of the campaign ”  [TGT]  wrote on Twitter. “. . . Also  there is NO COLLUSION!”
Minutes later  Mueller’s team announced a previously secret guilty plea of a third  [TGT]  campaign adviser  George Papadopoulos  who worked on foreign policy in a volunteer capacity. In court papers  Papadopoulos described in detail his 2016 efforts to arrange contacts with people he knew to be Russian agents  including one person who had told him about Russian “dirt” on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton  including “thousands of emails.”
Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to giving false statements to federal agents in his initial interviews about the interactions. He now says that he discussed the Russian overtures he had received with several other people in the [TGT] campaign  including a “senior policy adviser ” a “campaign supervisor” and a “high-ranking campaign official.” Among the campaign officials he emailed were Manafort  campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and national campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) put out a warning to [TGT] not to interfere with the ongoing probe. “If he does  Congress must respond swiftly  unequivocally and in a bipartisan way to ensure that the investigation continues ” he said in a statement.