The FBI conducted a predawn raid on Paul Manafort's home to seize documents related to the Russia probe

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published 9 August 2017

In the early morning hours of July 26, FBI agents raided the Alexandria, Virginia, home of Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort is a central figure in the bureau's investigation of Russia's interference in last year's presidential election. The Washington Post revealed Wednesday that authorities arrived "without advance warning" to "seize documents" related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump team's potential ties to Russia.

One day prior to the unexpected search, Manafort had met voluntarily with Senate Intelligence Committee staff. Though he'd also previously turned over documents voluntarily, Mueller's team apparently "had reason to believe Manafort could not be trusted to turn over all records in response to a grand jury subpoena," the Post explained. It's not yet clear how significant the seized documents may be, though it seems Manafort had already turned some of them over to Congress.

Manafort filed with the government as a foreign agent in June after years of foreign consulting work, and he was also one of the Trump team members invited to the meeting that Donald Trump Jr. arranged with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer last year. Manafort's spokesperson confirmed the raid in a statement, maintaining that Manafort "has consistently cooperated with law enforcement and other serious inquiries and did so on this occasion as well." Read more about the raid at The Washington Post.