When The Washington Post reported Wednesday night that Special Counsel Robert Mueller was investigating President Trump for possible obstruction of justice, since corroborated by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, it also noted that "investigators have also been looking for any evidence of possible financial crimes among Trump associates," including "possible contacts with Russian operatives as well as any suspicious financial activity related to those individuals." The New York Times offers more details:

A former senior official said Mr. Mueller's investigation was looking at money laundering by Trump associates. The suspicion is that any cooperation with Russian officials would most likely have been in exchange for some kind of financial payoff, and that there would have been an effort to hide the payments, probably by routing them through offshore banking centers. [The New York Times]

Mueller is overseeing multiple investigations into not just Trump but people who are or used to be in his orbit; the investigation shifted from just Russian meddling in the 2016 election to obstruction of justice a few days after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on May 9; Mueller was appointed special counsel on May 17. Mueller is reportedly going to interview three intelligence officials as early as this week: Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers, and Rogers' former deputy director, Rick Ledgett.

Before he retired, The Wall Street Journal reports, Ledgett "wrote a memo documenting a phone call that Mr. Rogers had with Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. During the call, the president questioned the veracity of the intelligence community's judgment that Russia had interfered with the election and tried to persuade Mr. Rogers to say there was no evidence of collusion between his campaign and Russian officials." Rogers declined, but has testified he did not feel pressured by Trump to push back against collusion allegations. A spokesman for Trump's personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, criticized all the revelations from Mueller's close-to-the-vest investigation: "The FBI leak of information regarding the president is outrageous, inexcusable, and illegal." Peter Weber

A protester armed with pictures of President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein with the words "CHILD RAPIST" disrupted Trump's Wednesday night rally in Greenville, North Carolina.

CNN reports that the man was "removed in a more aggressive manner than most protesters and pulled down behind a sign where he remained for a while as supporters took pictures." After the demonstrator was taken away with his hands behind his back, Trump said he was going "home now to mommy, and he gets reprimanded and that's the end."

Epstein, a financier, was arrested earlier this month and charged by prosecutors in New York with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy. More than a decade ago, Epstein was accused of sexually abusing girls, but pleaded guilty to felony prostitution charges instead and received a lenient 13-month jail sentence.

In 2002, Trump told New York magazine, "I've known Jeff for 15 years, terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side." After Epstein's arrest, Trump said he "knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him. I had a falling out with him. I haven't spoken to him in 15 years. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you." Earlier on Wednesday, MSNBC aired footage from NBC's archives showing Trump and Epstein in 1992, laughing at a party. Trump appears to point at a woman and say "she's hot," and is also seen grabbing another woman in attendance. Catherine Garcia

President Trump continued to lob insults at four Democratic congresswomen, calling them out by name during a rally Wednesday night in North Carolina.

On Sunday, he tweeted racist comments targeting Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), saying they need to "go back" to their home countries. The lawmakers — all outspoken Trump critics and women of color — are fueling "the rise of a dangerous, hard left," Trump said Wednesday.

After blasting Omar — who came to the U.S. from Somalia as a child and is a naturalized American citizen — and accusing her of "launching vicious anti-Semitic screeds," the crowd erupted in chants of "Send her back!" This not only echoed Trump's tweets, but also "Lock her up!" the longtime rallying cry of Trump supporters aimed at Hillary Clinton.

Trump referred to Ocasio-Cortez as "Cortez" because "I don't have time to go with three different names," and said she is a liar and behind "outrageous attacks against the men and women of law enforcement." He also asked if Pressley is "related in any way to Elvis" (who spelled his last name with just one "s") and said she "thinks that people with the same skin color all need to think the same. She said we don't need any more brown faces that don't want to be brown voices. ... Can you imagine if I said that? It would be over, right? It would be over." Catherine Garcia

The Democratic National Committee announced on Wednesday which 2020 presidential candidates will take the stage during CNN's primary debates later this month.

The candidates are: Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.); former Vice President Joe Biden; Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.); Montana Gov. Steve Bullock; South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg; former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro; New York Mayor Bill de Blasio; former Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.); Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii); Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.); Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.); former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper; Washington Gov. Jay Inslee; Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.); former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas); Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio); Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.); Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); author Marianne Williamson; and businessman Andrew Yang.

As with the first debate in June, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass) and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam did not qualify for this round. Newcomers to the race Tom Steyer, a billionaire investor, and former Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Penn.) also did not make the cut.

The debates will be held in Detroit over two days: July 30 and 31, with both starting at 8 p.m. E.T. On Thursday night, CNN will hold a live drawing during Anderson Cooper 360 to determine the candidate lineup for each night. Catherine Garcia

The House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in criminal contempt of Congress for their refusal to hand over subpoenaed documents related to the Trump administration's attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

The 230-198 vote was along party lines. Before the vote, Oversight and Reform Committee Chair Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said he did "not take this decision lightly. Holding any secretary in criminal contempt of Congress is a serious and sober matter, one that I have done everything in my power to avoid. But in the case of the attorney general and the secretary, Secretary Ross, they blatantly obstructed our ability to do congressional oversight into the real reason Secretary Ross was trying for the first time in 70 years to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census."

After weeks of back and forth, with the Department of Justice saying it was giving up the census fight only to have President Trump say he was considering an executive order to ensure the question was included, Trump announced last week he will instead have federal agencies turn over to the Commerce Department records on how many citizens and non-citizens are in the U.S. Catherine Garcia

The House on Wednesday afternoon voted overwhelmingly to table a resolution proposed by Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) on whether to immediately consider articles of impeachment against President Trump, effectively killing the measure.

The final vote tally was 332-95 in favor of tabling. Every Republican voted to table, while Democrats were somewhat split with 95 showing support for considering impeachment, while 137 were opposed.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has long opposed immediately pursuing impeachment against Trump, fearing it will harm the Democrats' legislative agenda. Her camp seemingly held firm on Wednesday.

Green's resolution was focused primarily on the president's recent racist tweets targeting four Democratic congresswomen. It made no mention of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into 2016 Russian election interference, which has generally been the driver behind calls for impeachment in the past. Instead, Green said Trump had simply brought "contempt, ridicule, disgrace, and disrepute" upon the office of the presidency. Tim O'Donnell

President Trump on Wednesday hosted an unannounced meeting with 27 survivors of religious persecution from 17 countries in the Oval Office, the timing of which has prompted speculation from his critics.

The meet and greet was televised, with Trump listening momentarily to stories of survival from several different people. Those gathered included people from the Uighur community in China, the Yazidi community in Iraq, and the Rohingya community in Myanmar, all religious groups that have recently been subject to brutal persecution either from their state governments or, in the Yazidis case, the Islamic State.

Also in attendance was Paula White, a non-denominational pastor who reportedly advises Trump spiritually. White, speaking after a few of the victims, thanked Trump for his "courageous leadership" in the fight for religious freedom for all people before specifically mentioning that, because of Trump, people in the U.S. could say "Merry Christmas" again.

The surprise event's timing has some people speculating that it could be a way for the president to stave off criticism from his racist tweets targeting four Democratic congresswomen. Tim O'Donnell