for former trump campaign chairman paul manafort. according to the associated press, the investigation has been quiet since special counsel robert mueller referred it to authorities in manhattan. but in recent weeks prosecutors in new york have started interviewing witnesses and contacting lawyers to schedule additional questioni ingquestio according to people familiar with the inquiry. back in september, paul manafort admitted to directing both of those firms to lobby in the u.s. on behalf of ukrainian political party and ukraine s government. over to the russia investigation, accused russian agent maria buttina has been negotiating a plea agreement with prosecutors. this morning her defense attorneys and prosecutors are expected to speak with the judge. we ve also learned that her
boyfriend is being investigated as a possible foreign agent as well. buttina s only tie to the u.s. is a republican operative who according to the washington post matches the description of paul ericsson. prosecutors believe he helped her navigate her way into washington political circles including the nra as part of her work for moscow. feds say they were considering charges him under the law that prohibits people from acting as secret agents of foreign governments. we should note he has not been accused of any crime and may not face charges. gm s ceo mary barra refused to reverse course. instead barra said she would keep an open mind as she drew growing criticism over the
to turn out, according to the former president. the senate intelligence committee is reportedly probing the national rifle association over its potential connections to russia, including a trip by the group s leaders to moscow. according to the daily beast, members have asked the nra to provide documents on the matter. that includes requests for information on a week-long trip in 2015 by top officials from that group. now the daily beast says that the trip was sponsored by a russian gun rights organization and that the head of the group has close connections to maria buttina. buttina was indicted in july on suspicions of being an undeclared operative. now the nra s connections to russia have come under increased scrutiny since buttina was
cited specific transactions by accused russian agent maria buttina as well as paul manafort and rick gates, both of whom have already pleaded guilty to financial crimes. if convicted edwards faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. prosecutors from robert mueller s office are seeking information about president trump s friend and business associate roger stone. sources tell abc news that special counsel s office is pushing paul manafort for information on roger stone. according to abc news, nearly a dozen individuals close to stone have been brought in for interviews with the mueller team. many of those same individuals have also appeared before a federal grand jury. mueller s interest in stone appears to be focused on whether stone or his associated communicated with wikileaks about the release of damaging
opposition to the nuclear deal with tehran. a gag order has been imposed in the trial for maria buttina. filings made last week reveal new information about buttina s communications to russia about the hacked dnc server. the filing shows she expressed regret about the hack because her efforts to befriend politicians would probably be misinterpreted. her access to sergey kislyak was more extensive than previously thought. they cite photos of the two together. prosecutors has noted that moscow has issued more diplomatic notes on buttina s behalf than any other russian