President Donald Trump has provided the special counsel's office with written answers to questions about his knowledge of Russian interference in the 2016 election, his lawyers said Tuesday, marking the first time Trump has directly cooperated with the investigation.

The step is a milestone in a months-long negotiation between Trump's attorneys and special counsel Robert Mueller's team over whether and when the president would sit for an interview, representing the first time the president is known to have described to investigators his knowledge of key moments under scrutiny by prosecutors.

If Mueller finds the answers satisfactory, the responses may also help stave off a potential subpoena fight over Trump's testimony.

The compromise outcome, nearly a year in the making, offers some benefit to both sides. Trump avoids, at least for now, a potentially risky and unpredictable sit-down with prosecutors, while Mueller secures a set of on-the-record statements whose accuracy the president and his lawyers will be expected to stand by for the duration of the investigation.

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker says someone very close to the president could become ensnared in Mueller's probe.

"We expect that there are going to be more indictments," Tucker said. "There's a lot of speculation and buzz in Washington as to who might be next up. We know that there's concern within the White House about President Trump's oldest son, Donald Trump Jr."

POOL

Washington - 20 November 2018

1. President Donald Trump greets White House visitors

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 20 November 2018

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer:

++partially covered with b-roll++

"Today, we have learned that President Donald Trump and his lawyers have turned over to special counsel Robert Mueller written answers to questions about Russian election interference and questions that are related to the topic of whether the campaign colluded with the Kremlin to sway the 2016 U.S. presidential election."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 21 August 2013

3. STILL of Robert Mueller speaking during an interview at FBI headquarters

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 20 November 2018

++partially covered with b-roll++

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer:

"And so, we can imagine and infer that Mueller wants to understand to what extent did Trump know about the Russian hacking of Democratic emails, to what extent did Trump have any knowledge that his son was going to be attending a meeting at Trump Tower with a Kremlin-connected lawyer. Those are all questions that cut to the heart of the collusion question that Mueller is trying to answer."

POOL

Washington - 20 November 2018

5. Trump and his family walk outside at the White House

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 20 November 2018

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer:

++partially covered with b-roll++

"We expect that there are going to be more indictments. There's a lot of speculation and buzz in Washington as to who might be next up. We know that there's concern within the White House about President Trump's oldest son, Donald Trump Jr. He, of course, attended and helped organize the Trump Tower meeting, which is very significant, because he took that meeting with the expectation of receiving dirt on Hillary Clinton, his father's opponent. We have no indication that he's in legal jeopardy, but we do know that the White House is concerned about that."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sun City, Arizona - 1 November 2018

7. STILL of Donald Trump Jr. speaking at a campaign rally for a U.S. Senate candidate

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 20 November 2018

8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer:

++fully covered with b-roll++

"The main question that now arises is whether special counsel Mueller would seek a subpoena of President Trump for his testimony in a criminal investigation ... and it is possible that Mueller will receive these answers from Trump and want additional information on the collusion question specifically and say he's not satisfied. If that were to happen, it is possible that he might seek a subpoena and try to get Justice Department approval for that."

POOL

Washington - 20 November 2018

9. Trump walks toward and boards the Marine One helicopter

President Donald Trump has provided the special counsel's office with written answers to questions about his knowledge of Russian interference in the 2016 election, his lawyers said Tuesday, marking the first time Trump has directly cooperated with the investigation.

The step is a milestone in a months-long negotiation between Trump's attorneys and special counsel Robert Mueller's team over whether and when the president would sit for an interview, representing the first time the president is known to have described to investigators his knowledge of key moments under scrutiny by prosecutors.

If Mueller finds the answers satisfactory, the responses may also help stave off a potential subpoena fight over Trump's testimony.

The compromise outcome, nearly a year in the making, offers some benefit to both sides. Trump avoids, at least for now, a potentially risky and unpredictable sit-down with prosecutors, while Mueller secures a set of on-the-record statements whose accuracy the president and his lawyers will be expected to stand by for the duration of the investigation.

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker says someone very close to the president could become ensnared in Mueller's probe.

"We expect that there are going to be more indictments," Tucker said. "There's a lot of speculation and buzz in Washington as to who might be next up. We know that there's concern within the White House about President Trump's oldest son, Donald Trump Jr."

POOL

Washington - 20 November 2018

1. President Donald Trump greets White House visitors

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 20 November 2018

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer:

"Today, we have learned that President Donald Trump and his lawyers have turned over to special counsel Robert Mueller written answers to questions about Russian election interference and questions that are related to the topic of whether the campaign colluded with the Kremlin to sway the 2016 U.S. presidential election."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 21 August 2013

3. STILL of Robert Mueller speaking during an interview at FBI headquarters

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 20 November 2018

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer:

"These are questions that relate to the time period before President Trump took office. And that's really important. They relate to the central question of collusion. And so, we can imagine and infer that Mueller wants to understand to what extent did Trump know about the Russian hacking of Democratic emails, to what extent did Trump have any knowledge that his son was going to be attending a meeting at Trump Tower with a Kremlin-connected lawyer. Those are all questions that cut to the heart of the collusion question that Mueller is trying to answer."

POOL

Washington - 20 November 2018

5. Trump and his family walk outside at the White House

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 20 November 2018

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer:

"We expect that there are going to be more indictments. There's a lot of speculation and buzz in Washington as to who might be next up. We know that there's concern within the White House about President Trump's oldest son, Donald Trump Jr. He, of course, attended and helped organize the Trump Tower meeting, which is very significant, because he took that meeting with the expectation of receiving dirt on Hillary Clinton, his father's opponent. We have no indication that he's in legal jeopardy, but we do know that the White House is concerned about that."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sun City, Arizona - 1 November 2018

7. STILL of Donald Trump Jr. speaking at a campaign rally for a U.S. Senate candidate

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 20 November 2018

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer:

"The main question that now arises is whether special counsel Mueller would seek a subpoena of President Trump for his testimony in a criminal investigation. The Supreme Court has never weighed in on that specific question, and it is possible that Mueller will receive these answers from Trump and want additional information on the collusion question specifically and say he's not satisfied. If that were to happen, it is possible that he might seek a subpoena and try to get Justice Department approval for that."

POOL

Washington - 20 November 2018

9. Trump walks toward the Marine One helicopter

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus092782

An attorney linked to a former Trump campaign official admitted Tuesday he lied to federal investigators working for special counsel Robert Mueller.

Alex van der Zwaan, who worked at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom until he was fired last year, appeared at the federal courthouse in Washington where he formally pleaded guilty to a single charge of making false statements about his interactions with former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates.

Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker says Mueller is sending a clear message that he won't tolerate lying. This is the 4th person to be prosecuted for lying to investigators.

Van der Zwaan's plea comes on the heels of an extraordinary indictment from Mueller last week that charged 13 Russian individuals and three Russian companies in a hidden social media effort to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election by denigrating Democrat Hillary Clinton and boosting the chances of Trump.

But the charge against the attorney, who is also the son-in-law of a Russian billionaire, does not involve election meddling or relate to the Trump campaign's operations. Instead, it stems from the special counsel's investigation into Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chair, and Gates, who is a longtime business associate of Manafort.

Gates and Manafort were indicted last year and accused of conspiring to launder millions of dollars they earned from political consulting work in Ukraine. As part of that indictment, Manafort and Gates are accused of directing a covert Washington lobbying campaign on behalf of pro-Russian Ukrainian interests before they joined the Trump campaign. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Van der Zwaan, 33, of London admitted to lying to federal authorities while they questioned him about the production of a report that Manafort and Gates are accused of secretly funding by funneling money through an offshore account.

++SOUNDBITES PARTIALLY COVERED BY VIDEO++

Washington - 20 February 2018

1. Mid, van der Zwaan exiting the courthouse and getting into a car

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"Today we had  another guilty plea in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. This is a lawyer. His name is Alex van der Zwaan. He admitted to lying to federal investigators during an interview in November 2017. This is the 19th person that we've seen charged so far in Mueller's investigation. This is a person who lied to the FBI about his interactions with Rick Gates, who is a codefendant of Paul Manafort, who is the former campaign chairman of President Donald Trump."

3. Mid, car driving away

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"He went into the special counsel's office back in November 2017 to be interviewed about his interactions with Rick Gates in connection with the production of a report that related to foreign lobbying work, Ukrainian lobbying work, that Rick Gates and Paul Manafort were doing. And during the course of that conversation he was asked about the last interaction he had with Rick Gates. He lied in that interview according to Mueller's investigators."

5. STILL Various van der Zwaan arriving at courthouse

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"The plea today does not relate to the indictment from Friday about the meddling in the 2016 presidential election. And it doesn't directly connect in any way to President Trump or Candidate Trump."

7. STILL Various van der Zwaan arriving at courthouse

8.  SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"But I would say what's really interesting now is this is the fourth person who we have seen charged with lying to investigators. So clearly Mueller is saying if you lie to us, and if we catch you in a lie making a knowing and false and willfully false statement, not just a mistake but a willfully false statement, you could wind up being prosecuted."

++EDIT ENDS IN A SOUNDBITE++

Elaine Kamarck, of the Brookings Institution says "we're pretty much at the end of this process" as she discussed the next steps in the special prosecutors Russia probe.

Kamarack, Senior fellow in the Governance Studies program as well as the Director of the Center for Effective Public Management , said on Tuesday that "The only thing that really seems to remain is whether or not the president himself is guilty of some crimes and do those crimes constitute in the minds of the members of Congress, high crimes and misdemeanors."

In a related story The Associated Press reports that President Donald Trump has been calling the Russia probe a witch hunt for two years.

But now, Trump and his allies are starting to see it as something potentially very different: a political opportunity.

Trump has grown increasingly confident that special counsel Robert Mueller's report will produce no clear evidence of a conspiracy between Russia and his election campaign.

A change is also underway among congressional Democrats, who had believed the report would offer damning evidence

Kamarack says "We're at a point where this is about to move unless there's some you know smoking gun. This is this investigation is about to move from the legal to the political and there the Democrats are going to have to decide do we move forward with impeachment."

Washington - 19 March 2019

1.Wide shot of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro walking out of White House into Rose Garden

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"It's not often that a president is subject to a special counsel and that means often that the findings of a special counsel could lead to something very dramatic like impeachment. Or it could just turn out to be a bunch of nothing. And so everybody was interested in this. Everybody was excited about it. The president himself was furious about it. But this is a big deal. We don't generally have investigations like this of sitting presidents."

3. Side shot of Trump speaking

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"The only thing that really seems to remain is whether or not the president himself is guilty of some crimes and do those crimes constitute in the minds of the members of Congress, high crimes and misdemeanors, which is the constitutional issue for impeachment, and so we're sort of down to the end game here. I mean it looks like there was a rapid string of indictments, trials, etc. It's possible that one or more of the president's children or in-laws could get indicted but it's, we're pretty much at the end of this process."

5. Trump speaking

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"The issue, though, is did the House and Senate, did the intelligence committees when they were controlled by Republicans ignore important pieces of evidence? The Democrats think they did. And so the Democrats will have to start their own investigation. They may find nothing as well."

Washington - 25 February 2019

7. STILL - The Capitol is seen in Washington as Congress returns to work following a week-long recess. A top House Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has threatened to call special counsel Robert Mueller to Capitol Hill, subpoena documents and sue the Trump administration if the full report on Mueller's Russia investigation is not made public.

Washington - 06 March 2019

8. STILL - House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, of California, left, and Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., return to hear Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, testify before a closed-door session of the House Intelligence Committee, on Capitol Hill

Washington - 19 March 2019

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"We're at a point where this is about to move unless there's some you know smoking gun. This is this investigation is about to move from the legal to the political and there, the Democrats are going to have to decide do we move forward with impeachment? Now, Nancy Pelosi has said, wisely I think, that probably not that. There's just not unless there's some blockbuster finding in the Muller report or someplace else. Probably not because bet we're almost at 2020. Let, it's cleaner, easier for democracy to let the voters decide."

Washington - 06 March 2019

10. STILL - House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., with Ranking Member Doug Collins

Washington - 19 March 2019

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"This investigation has taken place simultaneously with a very chaotic presidency and with a separate investigation into Donald Trump's business empire. Now it may not be impeachable to be a corrupt businessman. All you have to do is look at the Deutsche Bank story in today's (New York) Times and you can see that that's that's going to be a big story. But maybe it's not impeachable but it sure isn't desirable."

12. STILL - President Donald Trump walks along the Colonnade of the White House, towards the Rose Garden with visiting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro

Elaine Kamarck, of the Brookings Institution says "we're pretty much at the end of this process" as she discussed the next steps in the special prosecutors Russia probe.

Kamarack, Senior fellow in the Governance Studies program as well as the Director of the Center for Effective Public Management , said on Tuesday that "The only thing that really seems to remain is whether or not the president himself is guilty of some crimes and do those crimes constitute in the minds of the members of Congress, high crimes and misdemeanors."

In a related story The Associated Press reports that President Donald Trump has been calling the Russia probe a witch hunt for two years.

But now, Trump and his allies are starting to see it as something potentially very different: a political opportunity.

Trump has grown increasingly confident that special counsel Robert Mueller's report will produce no clear evidence of a conspiracy between Russia and his election campaign.

A change is also underway among congressional Democrats, who had believed the report would offer damning evidence

Kamarack says "We're at a point where this is about to move unless there's some you know smoking gun. This is this investigation is about to move from the legal to the political and there the Democrats are going to have to decide do we move forward with impeachment."

Washington - 19 March 2019

1.Wide shot of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro walking out of White House into Rose Garden

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"It's not often that a president is subject to a special counsel and that means often that the findings of a special counsel could lead to something very dramatic like impeachment. Or it could just turn out to be a bunch of nothing. And so everybody was interested in this. Everybody was excited about it. The president himself was furious about it. But this is a big deal. We don't generally have investigations like this of sitting presidents."

3. Side shot of Trump speaking

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"The only thing that really seems to remain is whether or not the president himself is guilty of some crimes and do those crimes constitute in the minds of the members of Congress, high crimes and misdemeanors, which is the constitutional issue for impeachment, and so we're sort of down to the end game here. I mean it looks like there was a rapid string of indictments, trials, etc. It's possible that one or more of the president's children or in-laws could get indicted but it's, we're pretty much at the end of this process."

5. Trump speaking

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"The issue, though, is did the House and Senate, did the intelligence committees when they were controlled by Republicans ignore important pieces of evidence? The Democrats think they did. And so the Democrats will have to start their own investigation. They may find nothing as well."

Washington - 25 February 2019

7. STILL - The Capitol is seen in Washington as Congress returns to work following a week-long recess. A top House Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has threatened to call special counsel Robert Mueller to Capitol Hill, subpoena documents and sue the Trump administration if the full report on Mueller's Russia investigation is not made public.

Washington - 06 March 2019

8. STILL - House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, of California, left, and Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., return to hear Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, testify before a closed-door session of the House Intelligence Committee, on Capitol Hill

Washington - 19 March 2019

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"We're at a point where this is about to move unless there's some you know smoking gun. This is this investigation is about to move from the legal to the political and there, the Democrats are going to have to decide do we move forward with impeachment? Now, Nancy Pelosi has said, wisely I think, that probably not that. There's just not unless there's some blockbuster finding in the Muller report or someplace else. Probably not because bet we're almost at 2020. Let, it's cleaner, easier for democracy to let the voters decide."

Washington - 06 March 2019

10. STILL - House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., with Ranking Member Doug Collins

Washington - 19 March 2019

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Elaine Kamarck, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution:

"This investigation has taken place simultaneously with a very chaotic presidency and with a separate investigation into Donald Trump's business empire. Now it may not be impeachable to be a corrupt businessman. All you have to do is look at the Deutsche Bank story in today's (New York) Times and you can see that that's that's going to be a big story. But maybe it's not impeachable but it sure isn't desirable."

12. STILL - President Donald Trump walks along the Colonnade of the White House, towards the Rose Garden with visiting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro

An attorney linked to a former Trump campaign official admitted Tuesday he lied to federal investigators working for special counsel Robert Mueller.

Alex van der Zwaan, who worked at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom until he was fired last year, appeared at the federal courthouse in Washington where he formally pleaded guilty to a single charge of making false statements about his interactions with former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates.

Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker says Mueller is sending a clear message that he won't tolerate lying. This is the 4th person to be prosecuted for lying to investigators.

Van der Zwaan's plea comes on the heels of an extraordinary indictment from Mueller last week that charged 13 Russian individuals and three Russian companies in a hidden social media effort to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election by denigrating Democrat Hillary Clinton and boosting the chances of Trump.

But the charge against the attorney, who is also the son-in-law of a Russian billionaire, does not involve election meddling or relate to the Trump campaign's operations. Instead, it stems from the special counsel's investigation into Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chair, and Gates, who is a longtime business associate of Manafort.

Gates and Manafort were indicted last year and accused of conspiring to launder millions of dollars they earned from political consulting work in Ukraine. As part of that indictment, Manafort and Gates are accused of directing a covert Washington lobbying campaign on behalf of pro-Russian Ukrainian interests before they joined the Trump campaign. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Van der Zwaan, 33, of London admitted to lying to federal authorities while they questioned him about the production of a report that Manafort and Gates are accused of secretly funding by funneling money through an offshore account.

Washington - 20 February 2018

1. STILL Alex van der Zwaan arriving at the courthouse

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"Today we had another guilty plea in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. This is a lawyer. His name is Alex van der Zwaan. He admitted to lying to federal investigators during an interview in November 2017."

3. STILL Alex van der Zwaan arriving at the courthouse

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"This is the 19th person that we've seen charged so far in Mueller's investigation. This is a person who lied to the FBI about his interactions with Rick Gates, who is a codefendant of Paul Manafort, who is the former campaign chairman of President Donald Trump."

5. STILL Alex van der Zwaan arriving at the courthouse

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"He went into the special counsel's office back in November 2017 to be interviewed about his interactions with Rick Gates in connection with the production of a report that related to foreign lobbying work, Ukrainian lobbying work, that Rick Gates and Paul Manafort were doing. And during the course of that conversation he was asked about the last interaction he had with Rick Gates. He lied in that interview according to Mueller's investigators."

7. Mid, van der Zwaan exiting the courthouse and getting into a car

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"So one thing that's really interesting is when you think about the timing of this investigation, this comes right on the heels of a stunning indictment that we had last Friday against 13 Russians and 3 Russian companies in connection to a hidden but very powerful social media effort that Mueller says was aimed at denigrating Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election and aiding the campaign of her Republican opponent Donald Trump."

9. Mid, car driving away

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"The plea today does not relate to the indictment from Friday about the meddling in the 2016 presidential election. And it doesn't directly connect in any way to President Trump or Candidate Trump."

11. STILL van der Zwaan leaving the courthouse

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"But I would say what's really interesting now is this is the fourth person who we have seen charged with lying to investigators. So clearly Mueller is saying if you lie to us, and if we catch you in a lie making a knowing and false and willfully false statement, not just a mistake but a willfully false statement, you could wind up being prosecuted."

13. STILL van der Zwaan leaving the courthouse

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"Alex van der Zwaan is going to be sentenced in April. He was free today, he was allowed to go, allowed to leave the courtroom."

15. STILL van der Zwaan leaving the courthouse

16.SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"That charge that he is pleading guilty to, a charge of making false statements to investigators, technically carries a five year maximum prison sentence. However, under the sentencing guideline ranges that were discussed in court today he's looking at between zero months and six months in prison."

++EDIT ENDS IN A SOUNDBITE++

Thirteen Russians and three Russian entities were charged Friday with an elaborate plot to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, federal prosecutors announced Friday.

The indictment, brought by the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, alleges that Russians used bogus social media postings and advertisements fraudulently purchased in the name of Americans to sway political opinion during the race between Republican Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent.

The charges are the most direct allegation to date of illegal Russian meddling in the election.

The goal, the indictment says, was to "sow discord in the U.S. political system, including the 2016 presidential election."

Charges include conspiracy, wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The charges arise from Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the election and whether there was improper coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Before Friday, four people, including Trump's former national security adviser and former campaign chairman, had been charged in Mueller's investigation.

The White House had no immediate response to the indictment.

Washington DC - 16 February 2018

1. Wide, Rosenstein walking into news conference

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General:

"A grand jury in the District of Columbia today returned an indictment presented by the special counsel's office. The indictment charges 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies for committing federal crimes while seeking to interfere in the United States political system including the 2016 presidential election. The defendants allegedly conducted what they called information warfare against the United States with the stated goal of spreading distrust toward the candidates and the political system in general. According to the allegations in the indictment 12 of the individual defendants worked at various times for a company called Internet Research Agency LLC, a Russian company based in St. Petersburg. The other individual defendant Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin funded the conspiracy through companies known as Concord Management and Consulting LLC, Concord catering and many affiliates and subsidiaries.

3. Cutaway reporters

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General:

"Two of the defendants allegedly traveled to the United States in 2014 to collect intelligence for their American influence operations. In order to hide the Russian origins of their activities, the defendants allegedly purchased space on computer servers located here in the United States in order to set up a virtual private network. The defendants allegedly use that infrastructure to establish hundreds of accounts on social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, making it appear that those accounts were controlled by persons located in the United States."

5. Wide, Rosenstein speaking

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General:

"The indictment includes eight criminal counts. Count one alleges a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States by all of the defendants. The defendants allegedly conspired to defraud America by impairing the lawful functions of the Federal Election Commission, the United States Department of Justice and the Department of State. Those organizations of the U.S. government are responsible for administering federal requirements for disclosure of foreign involvement in certain domestic activities. Count two charges conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud by Internet Research Agency and two of the individual defendants. Counts three through eight charge aggravated identity theft by Internet Research Agency and four individuals. Now there is no allegation in this indictment that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity. There is no allegation in the indictment that the charge conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election. I want to caution you that everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. At trial prosecutors must introduce credible evidence that is sufficient to prove each defendant guilty beyond any reasonable doubt to a unanimous jury. Special Counsel's investigation is ongoing. There will be no comments from the special counsel at this time. "

7. Cutaway

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General

"This indictment serves as a reminder that people are not always who they appear to be on the Internet. The indictment alleges that the Russian conspirators want to promote discord in the United States and undermine public confidence in democracy. We must not allow them to succeed. The Department of Justice will continue to work cooperatively with other law enforcement and intelligence agencies and with the Congress to defend our nation against similar current and future efforts."

9. Mid, Rosenstein walking out

Thirteen Russians and three Russian entities were charged Friday with an elaborate plot to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, federal prosecutors announced Friday.

The indictment, brought by the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, alleges that Russians used bogus social media postings and advertisements fraudulently purchased in the name of Americans to sway political opinion during the race between Republican Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent.

The charges are the most direct allegation to date of illegal Russian meddling in the election.

The goal, the indictment says, was to "sow discord in the U.S. political system, including the 2016 presidential election."

Charges include conspiracy, wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The charges arise from Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the election and whether there was improper coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Before Friday, four people, including Trump's former national security adviser and former campaign chairman, had been charged in Mueller's investigation.

The White House had no immediate response to the indictment.

Washington - 16 February 2018

1. Wide, Rosenstein walking into news conference

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General:

"A grand jury in the District of Columbia today returned an indictment presented by the special counsel's office. The indictment charges 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies for committing federal crimes while seeking to interfere in the United States political system including the 2016 presidential election. The defendants allegedly conducted what they called information warfare against the United States with the stated goal of spreading distrust toward the candidates and the political system in general. According to the allegations in the indictment 12 of the individual defendants worked at various times for a company called Internet Research Agency LLC, a Russian company based in St. Petersburg. The other individual defendant Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin funded the conspiracy through companies known as Concord Management and Consulting LLC. Concord catering and many affiliates and subsidiaries.

++SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASHES++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General:

"Now there is no allegation in this indictment that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity. There is no allegation in the indictment that the charge conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election. I want to caution you that everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. At trial prosecutors must introduce credible evidence that is sufficient to prove each defendant guilty beyond any reasonable doubt to a unanimous jury. Special Counsel's investigation is ongoing. There will be no comments from the special counsel at this time. "

4. Cutaway

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General

"This indictment serves as a reminder that people are not always who they appear to be on the Internet. The indictment alleges that the Russian conspirators want to promote discord in the United States and undermine public confidence in democracy. We must not allow them to succeed. The Department of Justice will continue to work cooperatively with other law enforcement and intelligence agencies and with the Congress to defend our nation against similar current and future efforts."

Thirteen Russians and three Russian entities were charged Friday with an elaborate plot to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, federal prosecutors announced Friday.

The indictment, brought by the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, alleges that Russians used bogus social media postings and advertisements fraudulently purchased in the name of Americans to sway political opinion during the race between Republican Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent.

The charges are the most direct allegation to date of illegal Russian meddling in the election.

The goal, the indictment says, was to "sow discord in the U.S. political system, including the 2016 presidential election."

Charges include conspiracy, wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The charges arise from Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the election and whether there was improper coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Before Friday, four people, including Trump's former national security adviser and former campaign chairman, had been charged in Mueller's investigation.

The White House had no immediate response to the indictment.

Washington - 16 February 2018

1. Wide, Rosenstein walking into news conference

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General:

"A grand jury in the District of Columbia today returned an indictment presented by the special counsel's office. The indictment charges 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies for committing federal crimes while seeking to interfere in the United States political system including the 2016 presidential election. The defendants allegedly conducted what they called information warfare against the United States with the stated goal of spreading distrust toward the candidates and the political system in general. According to the allegations in the indictment 12 of the individual defendants worked at various times for a company called Internet Research Agency LLC, a Russian company based in St. Petersburg. The other individual defendant Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin funded the conspiracy through companies known as Concord Management and Consulting LLC, Concord catering and many affiliates and subsidiaries.

3. Cutaway reporters

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General:

"Two of the defendants allegedly traveled to the United States in 2014 to collect intelligence for their American influence operations. In order to hide the Russian origins of their activities, the defendants allegedly purchased space on computer servers located here in the United States in order to set up a virtual private network. The defendants allegedly use that infrastructure to establish hundreds of accounts on social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, making it appear that those accounts were controlled by persons located in the United States."

5. Wide, Rosenstein speaking

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General:

"The indictment includes eight criminal counts. Count one alleges a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States by all of the defendants. The defendants allegedly conspired to defraud America by impairing the lawful functions of the Federal Election Commission, the United States Department of Justice and the Department of State. Those organizations of the U.S. government are responsible for administering federal requirements for disclosure of foreign involvement in certain domestic activities. Count two charges conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud by Internet Research Agency and two of the individual defendants. Counts three through eight charge aggravated identity theft by Internet Research Agency and four individuals. Now there is no allegation in this indictment that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity. There is no allegation in the indictment that the charge conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election. I want to caution you that everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. At trial prosecutors must introduce credible evidence that is sufficient to prove each defendant guilty beyond any reasonable doubt to a unanimous jury. Special Counsel's investigation is ongoing. There will be no comments from the special counsel at this time. "

7. Cutaway

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General

"This indictment serves as a reminder that people are not always who they appear to be on the Internet. The indictment alleges that the Russian conspirators want to promote discord in the United States and undermine public confidence in democracy. We must not allow them to succeed. The Department of Justice will continue to work cooperatively with other law enforcement and intelligence agencies and with the Congress to defend our nation against similar current and future efforts."

9. Mid, Rosenstein walking out

An attorney linked to a former Trump campaign official admitted Tuesday he lied to federal investigators working for special counsel Robert Mueller.

Alex van der Zwaan, who worked at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom until he was fired last year, appeared at the federal courthouse in Washington where he formally pleaded guilty to a single charge of making false statements about his interactions with former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates.

Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker says Mueller is sending a clear message that he won't tolerate lying. This is the 4th person to be prosecuted for lying to investigators.

Van der Zwaan's plea comes on the heels of an extraordinary indictment from Mueller last week that charged 13 Russian individuals and three Russian companies in a hidden social media effort to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election by denigrating Democrat Hillary Clinton and boosting the chances of Trump.

But the charge against the attorney, who is also the son-in-law of a Russian billionaire, does not involve election meddling or relate to the Trump campaign's operations. Instead, it stems from the special counsel's investigation into Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chair, and Gates, who is a longtime business associate of Manafort.

Gates and Manafort were indicted last year and accused of conspiring to launder millions of dollars they earned from political consulting work in Ukraine. As part of that indictment, Manafort and Gates are accused of directing a covert Washington lobbying campaign on behalf of pro-Russian Ukrainian interests before they joined the Trump campaign. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Van der Zwaan, 33, of London admitted to lying to federal authorities while they questioned him about the production of a report that Manafort and Gates are accused of secretly funding by funneling money through an offshore account.

Washington - 20 February 2018

1. STILL Alex van der Zwaan arriving at the courthouse

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"Today we had another guilty plea in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. This is a lawyer. His name is Alex van der Zwaan. He admitted to lying to federal investigators during an interview in November 2017."

3. STILL Alex van der Zwaan arriving at the courthouse

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"This is the 19th person that we've seen charged so far in Mueller's investigation. This is a person who lied to the FBI about his interactions with Rick Gates, who is a codefendant of Paul Manafort, who is the former campaign chairman of President Donald Trump."

5. STILL Alex van der Zwaan arriving at the courthouse

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"He went into the special counsel's office back in November 2017 to be interviewed about his interactions with Rick Gates in connection with the production of a report that related to foreign lobbying work, Ukrainian lobbying work, that Rick Gates and Paul Manafort were doing. And during the course of that conversation he was asked about the last interaction he had with Rick Gates. He lied in that interview according to Mueller's investigators."

7. Mid, van der Zwaan exiting the courthouse and getting into a car

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"So one thing that's really interesting is when you think about the timing of this investigation, this comes right on the heels of a stunning indictment that we had last Friday against 13 Russians and 3 Russian companies in connection to a hidden but very powerful social media effort that Mueller says was aimed at denigrating Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election and aiding the campaign of her Republican opponent Donald Trump."

9. Mid, car driving away

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"The plea today does not relate to the indictment from Friday about the meddling in the 2016 presidential election. And it doesn't directly connect in any way to President Trump or Candidate Trump."

11. STILL van der Zwaan leaving the courthouse

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"But I would say what's really interesting now is this is the fourth person who we have seen charged with lying to investigators. So clearly Mueller is saying if you lie to us, and if we catch you in a lie making a knowing and false and willfully false statement, not just a mistake but a willfully false statement, you could wind up being prosecuted."

13. STILL van der Zwaan leaving the courthouse

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"Alex van der Zwaan is going to be sentenced in April. He was free today, he was allowed to go, allowed to leave the courtroom."

15. STILL van der Zwaan leaving the courthouse

16.SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, Associated Press Justice Department Reporter:

"That charge that he is pleading guilty to, a charge of making false statements to investigators, technically carries a five year maximum prison sentence. However, under the sentencing guideline ranges that were discussed in court today he's looking at between zero months and six months in prison."

++EDIT ENDS IN A SOUNDBITE++

Republican congressional members say their meeting with former Trump campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, backs up their belief that partisan bias has affected investigations at the Justice Department.

"These facts continue to lend themselves to the narrative that there were folks in the Obama FBI and Justice Department that prejudged Hillary Clinton's innocence, and prejudged Donald Trump's guilt or involvement with the Russian government and potential collusion," said Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe was one of a few lawmakers who attended an interview on Thursday with George Papadopoulos on Capitol Hill. Congress is currently on recess in the weeks before the November election. Republican and Democratic staffers were also in the room.

Papadopoulos, who triggered the Russia investigation, made his first appearance Thursday before congressional investigators.

Papadopoulos was sentenced in September to two weeks in prison as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, was meeting in closed session with two GOP-led House committees. It is one of several interviews the GOP-led House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform panels are conducting as part of their investigation into partisan bias at the Justice Department.

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries during the 2016 campaign. Since he was sentenced, he has been eager to talk publicly. He has spent many nights on Twitter, along with his wife, venting anger with the FBI and implying that he was set up in the investigation.

Papadopoulos, who served as a foreign policy adviser to Trump's campaign, has been a central figure in the Russia investigation dating back before Mueller's May 2017 appointment. He was the first person to plead guilty in Mueller's probe and the first Trump campaign adviser to be sentenced. His case was also the first to detail a member of the Trump campaign having knowledge of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election while it was ongoing.

According to a sweeping indictment, Russian intelligence had stolen emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign and other Democratic groups by April 2016, the same month Papadopoulos was told by the professor, Joseph Mifsud, that Russian officials had told him they had "dirt" on Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails." According to a New York Times report last year, Papadopoulos then told the Australian diplomat, Alexander Downer, who tipped off the FBI.

Democrats have said the GOP investigation is an attempt to discredit Mueller's investigation.

Washington - 25 October 2018

1. Various of George Papadopoulos entering meeting with Congressional investigators

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. John Ratcliffe, (R) Texas:

"Justice is a blindfolded lady holding a set of scales. No one's finger is supposed to be on the scales and these facts continue to lend themselves to the narrative that there were folks in the Obama FBI and Justice Department that prejudged Hillary Clinton's innocence, and prejudged Donald Trump's guilt or involvement with the Russian government and potential collusion."

++SOTS SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina:

"The facts that we are finding in here are astounding that we would allow this type of investigation to be embarked upon without any real solid foundation of collusion."

5. Meadows walks away

Republican congressional members say their meeting with former Trump campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, backs up their belief that partisan bias has affected investigations at the Justice Department.

"These facts continue to lend themselves to the narrative that there were folks in the Obama FBI and Justice Department that prejudged Hillary Clinton's innocence, and prejudged Donald Trump's guilt or involvement with the Russian government and potential collusion," said Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe was one of a few lawmakers who attended an interview on Thursday with George Papadopoulos on Capitol Hill. Congress is currently on recess in the weeks before the November election. Republican and Democratic staffers were also in the room.

Papadopoulos, who triggered the Russia investigation, made his first appearance Thursday before congressional investigators.

Papadopoulos was sentenced in September to two weeks in prison as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, was meeting in closed session with two GOP-led House committees. It is one of several interviews the GOP-led House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform panels are conducting as part of their investigation into partisan bias at the Justice Department.

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries during the 2016 campaign. Since he was sentenced, he has been eager to talk publicly. He has spent many nights on Twitter, along with his wife, venting anger with the FBI and implying that he was set up in the investigation.

Papadopoulos, who served as a foreign policy adviser to Trump's campaign, has been a central figure in the Russia investigation dating back before Mueller's May 2017 appointment. He was the first person to plead guilty in Mueller's probe and the first Trump campaign adviser to be sentenced. His case was also the first to detail a member of the Trump campaign having knowledge of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election while it was ongoing.

According to a sweeping indictment, Russian intelligence had stolen emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign and other Democratic groups by April 2016, the same month Papadopoulos was told by the professor, Joseph Mifsud, that Russian officials had told him they had "dirt" on Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails." According to a New York Times report last year, Papadopoulos then told the Australian diplomat, Alexander Downer, who tipped off the FBI.

Democrats have said the GOP investigation is an attempt to discredit Mueller's investigation.

Washington DC - 25 October 2018

1. Various of George Papadopoulos entering meeting with Congressional investigators

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. John Ratcliffe, (R) Texas:

"Justice is a blindfolded lady holding a set of scales. No one's finger is supposed to be on the scales and these facts continue to lend themselves to the narrative that there were folks in the Obama FBI and Justice Department that prejudged Hillary Clinton's innocence, and prejudged Donald Trump's guilt or involvement with the Russian government and potential collusion."

++SOTS SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina:

"The facts that we are finding in here are astounding that we would allow this type of investigation to be embarked upon without any real solid foundation of collusion."

5. Meadows walks away

Roger Stone, a confidant of President Donald Trump, was arrested Friday morning on several criminal charges stemming from the special counsel's Russia investigation.

Stone is charged in a seven-count indictment with witness tampering, obstruction and false statements about his interactions related to the release by WikiLeaks of hacked emails during the 2016 presidential election. Some of those false statements were made to the House intelligence committee, according to the indictment.

The indictment brought by special counsel Robert Mueller does not accuse Stone of coordinating with the Russian government's election interference in 2016, the key matter under investigation in the probe. But the indictment lays out in detail Stone's conversations about stolen Democratic emails posted by WikiLeaks in the weeks before the Republican beat Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. Mueller's office has said those emails, belonging to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, were hacked by Russian intelligence officers.

Stone is scheduled to appear in court in Florida later Friday. The indictment had been expected. Stone has said for months he was prepared to be charged, though he has denied any wrongdoing. A grand jury for months had heard from witnesses connected to Stone. And the intelligence committee last year voted to release a transcript of Stone's testimony to Mueller as a precursor to an indictment.

Stone has publicly denigrated the Mueller investigation and echoed the president's descriptions of it as a witch hunt. But he has long attracted investigators' attention, especially in light of a 2016 tweet that appeared to presage knowledge that emails stolen from Podesta would soon be released. Stone has said he had no inside information about the contents of the emails in WikiLeaks' possession or the timing of when they'd be released.

He has said he learned from Randy Credico, a New York radio host, that WikiLeaks had the emails and planned to disclose them. Stone has released emails that he says support that assertion.

Prosecutors had offered a plea agreement to Stone friend Jerome Corsi that would have required the conspiracy theorist and conservative author to admit that he intentionally lied to investigators about a discussion with Stone about WikiLeaks. But he rejected the offer.

Washington, DC - 6 December 2018

1. Mid of Roger Stone walking to podium

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger Stone, Trump Confidant

"We are at a point now where I'm sure many of you heard yesterday that I have elected to invoke my Fifth Amendment rights when it comes to the witch hunts being conducted by the Senate Intelligence and the Senate Judiciary Committees. Just for the record, I informed through my attorneys both of those committees, that I would not be turning over three tractor trailer loads of documents for them to root for, and I will not testify unless I am allowed to testify in public, so the American people can hear every word."

+++BLACK FRAMES+++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger Stone, Trump Confidant

"I answered all these questions before the House Intelligence Committee for four hours behind closed doors, and I stand behind every word."

4.SOUNDBITE (English) Roger Stone, Trump Confidant

"If Mr. Schiff has any proof whatsoever that I had advance notice of the source or the content of the allegedly hacked or stolen emails published by WikiLeaks or that I received anything of the kind. I challenge him to produce it now or shut up. Just as in his previous claim to have been to have seen substantial evidence of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign in producing none. The congressman is completely full of Schiff."

+++BLACK FRAMES+++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger Stone, Trump Confidant

"Because this is not about Russian collusion. It's about the parsing of words. It's about process crimes and perjury traps, and I decline to participate."

+++BLACK FRAMES+++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger Stone, Trump Confidant

"Some of you may have seen that I appeared on ABC with George Stephanopoulos this past Sunday. And I said in that interview something that I have said previously for the last two years many times on the public record. And that is no matter what happens I will not bear false witness against this president. I will not make up stories and lies in the effort to remove him."

+++BLACK FRAMES+++

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger Stone, Trump Confidant

"I think most Americans now understand that the Russian collusion delusion is meant to be a distraction from the far more serious abuse of power in which the Obama administration used the authority and the capability of the state through the use of illegal and illicit FISA warrants to spy on Donald Trump's campaign for president, and use the FBI to infiltrate the Trump campaign for the purposes of planting faux Russian collusion."

8. Mid of Stone exiting stage

Democrats denounced on Friday a plan by President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to urge Ukraine to open investigations that could benefit Trump politically.

Giuliani is expected to travel to Kiev to push for two investigations. One is the origin of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference. The other is the involvement of 2020 rival Joe Biden's son in a gas company owned by a Ukrainian oligarch.

"It's stunning that the Trump administration is going down the same tragic path they did in 2016 seeking help from a foreign government again to influence an American presidential election. It's appalling," said Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.  

Schiff said Trump allies were indicating, "'We're going to do everything short of what's downright criminal. Ethics don't matter. Patriotism doesn't matter.'

Giuliani has pushed back against the criticism. Meanwhile, Congress continues to debate a number of investigations targeting the Trump administration, which are being led by Democrats in the House of Represenatives.

House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal suggested that he would make his next move in his push to acquire Trump's tax returns soon. Neal's demand for the returns is about to head to federal court.

The top republican on the committee, Rep. Kevin Brady said he wrote to Rep. Neal "cautioning him against trying to compel the president's private tax returns either by subpoena or by lawsuit."

Washington - 10 March 2019

1. Schiff walking to reporters

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Adam Schiff, (D) California

++AUDIO AS INCOMING++

"It's stunning that the Trump administration is going down the same tragic path they did in 2016. Here you have the president's lawyer seeking help from a foreign government, again to influence an American presidential election. It's just appalling. And his defense that he's not seeking a foreign government's help in the election, just an investigation -- yes, it's an investigation designed to affect one of the candidates they fear the most, Joe Biden, and I think it's reprehensible. Giuliani said, 'Well, some people may think it's improper', all Americans should think this is improper. Do we really want to take the country down this path again of getting a foreign government involved in our presidential politics? And it seems to me that what Giuliani is saying and what others, Brad Parscale, and others in the Trump campaign are saying is we're going to do everything short of what's down right criminal. Ethics don't matter anymore. Patriotism doesn't matter anymore. And if that's where we are as a country then we're in deep trouble."

3. Rep. Richard Neal walks down US Capitol Steps as he responds to questions from reporters UPSOUND: (English) Rep. Richard Neal, (D) Massachusetts (Responding to reporter question on if he's informed his members about how he plans to proceed on obtaining Trump's tax returns) "They will all know this afternoon. I've given some hints to them but I've been careful until House Counsel finishes the documents that you'll know in the next couple of hours. (Reporter: Since the subpoenas haven't been going well do you think you'll go straight to the courts?) I can't control that. The attorney said, no a reporter said to me 'can't you tell the courts what to do?' Well it doesn't work that way."

4. Neal walking down steps of Capitol

5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Kevin Brady, (R) Texas:

"I sent a letter to Chairmen Neal today essentially cautioning him against trying to compel those, the president's private tax returns either by subpoena or by lawsuit. Again, this is a very dangerous precedent to be setting. The president's exactly right to be fighting this because if Democrats can obtain the president's tax returns for purely political reasons, nothing can stop them in obtaining any American that they view as a political enemy in obtaining and making public those returns as well. That's why this is dangerous."

(Reporter: Do they have any legal standing to do this?) "The question is how do you compel them. So, I don't know what their legal strategy is going to be. My letter was to essentially caution them and basically request that they stop this compulsory process because I think it leads ultimately to a Supreme Court fight and, frankly, distracts from the work we ought to be doing on drug pricing, on surprise billing, on retirement security, a number of those issues."

An FBI agent who worked on separate investigations into Democrat Hillary Clinton and President Donald Trump's campaign testified behind closed doors to two House committees Wednesday as GOP lawmakers stepped up efforts to highlight what they say is bias at the Justice Department.

Peter Strzok exchanged anti-Trump texts with a colleague, FBI attorney Lisa Page, as both worked on the Clinton investigation and briefly on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into ties between Trump's campaign and Russia. House Republicans have seized on the texts as part of investigations into the Justice Department, the FBI and decisions that both made during the 2016 presidential election.

In one of the texts, from August 2016, Strzok wrote, "We'll stop it," in reference to a potential Trump election win.

Mark Meadows, one of the most vocal critics of the Justice Department, said as he walked into the interview that he had several questions about the beginning of the Russia investigation in 2016 and informants used to question Trump campaign staff.

"Ultimately you cannot have bias within the FBI and DOJ and expect justice to be meted out equally," Meadows said.

The barrage of GOP criticism against the Justice Department comes just a few months before the midterm elections, and amid intense sparring between the parties over the FBI's role in the Russia probe. The House could vote as soon as Thursday on a resolution demanding the department hand over thousands of documents that Congress has requested by July 6. The resolution was approved by the House Judiciary Committee.

Washington - 27 June 2018

1. FBI Agent Peter Strzok walks through Rayburn House office building

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina:

"Well, I think that we should have actually been a little bit more deliberate bringing him here. We've had to collect documents. One of the problems is we're still getting documents from DOJ (Department of Justice) that really are a predicate to this interview. We have documents that we've requested from DOJ that they continue to hold onto, that they will not give us. You know that we got text messages the day of the IG (Inspector General) hearing. Now it's time for DOJ and FBI to be transparent. But it's also time for the American people to see the truth. Hopefully, they will be able to do that. We'll have hours of interviews today to get to the bottom line. But, ultimately, you cannot have bias within the FBI and DOJ and expect justice to be meted out equally. And so hopefully we'll rid the FBI of any inherent bias."

3. Various of meadows speaking with reporters

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina: (referring to texts between Strzok and Lisa Page)

"If you have intimate personal conversations between two people, that normally would show the intent more so than perhaps something that would be said out in public."

5. Reporter asking Meadows question

STORYLINE:

An FBI agent who worked on separate investigations into Democrat Hillary Clinton and President Donald Trump's campaign testified behind closed doors to two House committees Wednesday as GOP lawmakers stepped up efforts to highlight what they say is bias at the Justice Department.

Peter Strzok exchanged anti-Trump texts with a colleague, FBI attorney Lisa Page, as both worked on the Clinton investigation and briefly on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into ties between Trump's campaign and Russia. House Republicans have seized on the texts as part of investigations into the Justice Department, the FBI and decisions that both made during the 2016 presidential election.

In one of the texts, from August 2016, Strzok wrote, "We'll stop it," in reference to a potential Trump election win.

Mark Meadows, one of the most vocal critics of the Justice Department, said as he walked into the interview that he had several questions about the beginning of the Russia investigation in 2016 and informants used to question Trump campaign staff.

"Ultimately you cannot have bias within the FBI and DOJ and expect justice to be meted out equally," Meadows said.

The barrage of GOP criticism against the Justice Department comes just a few months before the midterm elections, and amid intense sparring between the parties over the FBI's role in the Russia probe. The House could vote as soon as Thursday on a resolution demanding the department hand over thousands of documents that Congress has requested by July 6. The resolution was approved by the House Judiciary Committee.

Washington DC - 27 June 2018

1. FBI Agent Peter Strzok walks through Rayburn House office building

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina:

"Well, I think that we should have actually been a little bit more deliberate bringing him here. We've had to collect documents. One of the problems is we're still getting documents from DOJ (Department of Justice) that really are a predicate to this interview. We have documents that we've requested from DOJ that they continue to hold onto, that they will not give us. You know that we got text messages the day of the IG (Inspector General) hearing. Now it's time for DOJ and FBI to be transparent. But it's also time for the American people to see the truth. Hopefully, they will be able to do that. We'll have hours of interviews today to get to the bottom line. But, ultimately, you cannot have bias within the FBI and DOJ and expect justice to be meted out equally. And so hopefully we'll rid the FBI of any inherent bias."

3. Various of meadows speaking with reporters

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina: (referring to texts between Strzok and Lisa Page)

"If you have intimate personal conversations between two people, that normally would show the intent more so than perhaps something that would be said out in public."

5. Reporter asking Meadows question

An FBI agent who worked on separate investigations into Democrat Hillary Clinton and President Donald Trump's campaign testified behind closed doors to two House committees Wednesday as GOP lawmakers stepped up efforts to highlight what they say is bias at the Justice Department.

Peter Strzok exchanged anti-Trump texts with a colleague, FBI attorney Lisa Page, as both worked on the Clinton investigation and briefly on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into ties between Trump's campaign and Russia. House Republicans have seized on the texts as part of investigations into the Justice Department, the FBI and decisions that both made during the 2016 presidential election.

In one of the texts, from August 2016, Strzok wrote, "We'll stop it," in reference to a potential Trump election win.

Mark Meadows, one of the most vocal critics of the Justice Department, said as he walked into the interview that he had several questions about the beginning of the Russia investigation in 2016 and informants used to question Trump campaign staff.

"Ultimately you cannot have bias within the FBI and DOJ and expect justice to be meted out equally," Meadows said.

The barrage of GOP criticism against the Justice Department comes just a few months before the midterm elections, and amid intense sparring between the parties over the FBI's role in the Russia probe. The House could vote as soon as Thursday on a resolution demanding the department hand over thousands of documents that Congress has requested by July 6. The resolution was approved by the House Judiciary Committee.

Washington - 27 June 2018

1. FBI Agent Peter Strzok walks through Rayburn House office building

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina:

"Well, I think that we should have actually been a little bit more deliberate bringing him here. We've had to collect documents. One of the problems is we're still getting documents from DOJ (Department of Justice) that really are a predicate to this interview. We have documents that we've requested from DOJ that they continue to hold onto, that they will not give us. You know that we got text messages the day of the IG (Inspector General) hearing. Now it's time for DOJ and FBI to be transparent. But it's also time for the American people to see the truth. Hopefully, they will be able to do that. We'll have hours of interviews today to get to the bottom line. But, ultimately, you cannot have bias within the FBI and DOJ and expect justice to be meted out equally. And so hopefully we'll rid the FBI of any inherent bias."

3. Various of meadows speaking with reporters

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina: (referring to texts between Strzok and Lisa Page)

"If you have intimate personal conversations between two people, that normally would show the intent more so than perhaps something that would be said out in public."

5. Reporter asking Meadows question

George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign adviser who triggered the Russia investigation, is making his first appearance before congressional investigators.

Special counsel Robert Mueller charged Papadopoulos with lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries. He was sentenced in September to two weeks in prison. Papadopoulos will speak behind closed doors to two GOP-led House committees that are investigating partisan bias at the Justice Department.

Since he was sentenced to two weeks in prison, Papadopoulos has been eager to talk publicly. He has spent many nights on Twitter, along with his wife, venting anger with the FBI and implying that he was set up in the investigation. He has said on Twitter that he would like to talk to Congress about his "suspicious encounters" with an Australian diplomat and a professor who were links to his case. And his lawyer sent a letter to the committees this week in which he listed nine people he wants to discuss in the interview, including both of those men.

Papadopoulos, who served as a foreign policy adviser to Trump's campaign, has been a central figure in the Russia investigation dating back before Mueller's May 2017 appointment. He was the first to plead guilty in Mueller's probe and the first Trump campaign adviser to be sentenced. His case was also the first to detail a member of the Trump campaign having knowledge of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election while it was ongoing.

According to a sweeping indictment, Russian intelligence had stolen emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign and other Democratic groups by April 2016, the same month Papadopoulos was told by the professor, Joseph Mifsud, that Russian officials had told him they had "dirt" on Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails." According to a New York Times report last year, Papadopoulos then told the Australian diplomat, Alexander Downer, who tipped off the FBI.

With Congress in recess, less than a handful of members are in attendance at the meet, including Republican Rep. Mark Meadows.

I'm looking forward to him sharing what he said, what he didn't say and I think what we'll find is that this was not someone who was colluding with Russia, quite the opposite," said Rep. Meadows.

A House intelligence committee investigation wrapped up earlier this year, with Republicans saying that there was no evidence of collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump's campaign.

Washington - 25 October 2018

1. George Papadopoulos walking through Rayburn House office building

2. Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina:

George Papadopoulos was the reason why this whole Russia investigation was open, that was a predicate for the FBI. Hopefully, we'll learn today exactly what was said, what was not said. But, candidly, I think it's a day for George Papadopoulos to tell his story. We've heard everyone else's story. I'm looking forward to him sharing what he said, what he didn't say and I think what we'll find is that this was not someone who was colluding with Russia, quite the opposite."

3. Various of Papadopoulos

George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign adviser who triggered the Russia investigation, is making his first appearance before congressional investigators.

Special counsel Robert Mueller charged Papadopoulos with lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries. He was sentenced in September to two weeks in prison. Papadopoulos will speak behind closed doors to two GOP-led House committees that are investigating partisan bias at the Justice Department.

Since he was sentenced to two weeks in prison, Papadopoulos has been eager to talk publicly. He has spent many nights on Twitter, along with his wife, venting anger with the FBI and implying that he was set up in the investigation. He has said on Twitter that he would like to talk to Congress about his "suspicious encounters" with an Australian diplomat and a professor who were links to his case. And his lawyer sent a letter to the committees this week in which he listed nine people he wants to discuss in the interview, including both of those men.

Papadopoulos, who served as a foreign policy adviser to Trump's campaign, has been a central figure in the Russia investigation dating back before Mueller's May 2017 appointment. He was the first to plead guilty in Mueller's probe and the first Trump campaign adviser to be sentenced. His case was also the first to detail a member of the Trump campaign having knowledge of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election while it was ongoing.

According to a sweeping indictment, Russian intelligence had stolen emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign and other Democratic groups by April 2016, the same month Papadopoulos was told by the professor, Joseph Mifsud, that Russian officials had told him they had "dirt" on Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails." According to a New York Times report last year, Papadopoulos then told the Australian diplomat, Alexander Downer, who tipped off the FBI.

With Congress in recess, less than a handful of members are in attendance at the meet, including Republican Rep. Mark Meadows.

I'm looking forward to him sharing what he said, what he didn't say and I think what we'll find is that this was not someone who was colluding with Russia, quite the opposite," said Rep. Meadows.

A House intelligence committee investigation wrapped up earlier this year, with Republicans saying that there was no evidence of collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump's campaign.

Washington - 25 October 2018

1. George Papadopoulos walking through Rayburn House office building

2. Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina:

George Papadopoulos was the reason why this whole Russia investigation was open, that was a predicate for the FBI. Hopefully, we'll learn today exactly what was said, what was not said. But, candidly, I think it's a day for George Papadopoulos to tell his story. We've heard everyone else's story. I'm looking forward to him sharing what he said, what he didn't say and I think what we'll find is that this was not someone who was colluding with Russia, quite the opposite."

3. Various of Papadopoulos

A legal fight over what should happen to records the FBI seized from US President Donald Trump's personal attorney took a surprise twist Monday when the lawyer, Michael Cohen, was forced to reveal a secret _ that he had also done legal work for Fox News host Sean Hannity.

The disclosure came as a New York judge disappointed a lawyer for Trump by letting prosecutors proceed with the cataloguing of evidence including multiple electronic devices that were seized in raids while a system is set up to ensure they are protected by attorney-client privilege.

Lawyers for Cohen and prosecutors had reason to claim success after three hours of arguments left U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood saying she may appoint a special master to help decide how much of the materials are subject to the privilege.

The only disappointed party seemed to be Trump's attorney, Joanna Hendon, who said she was objecting to any plan by prosecutors to search for how many times Trump's name appears in documents as they try to decide how many might be subject to attorney-client privilege.

Prosecutors promised not to study the contents of the materials while the process of protecting privileged materials is resolved.

Wood also denied Hendon's request that lawyers for Trump and Cohen get the first crack at designating documents and other evidence that might be subject to the privilege.

The Hannity revelation came after Wood required Cohen to divulge the names of the clients he's worked with since the 2016 election.

One, of course, was Trump himself.

Another was Elliot Broidy, a Trump fundraiser who resigned from the Republican National Committee on Friday after it was revealed that he paid $1.6 million to a Playboy Playmate with whom he had an extramarital affair. The Playmate became pregnant and elected to have an abortion.

With Cohen by their side on Monday, lawyers initially resisted revealing the name of the third client for privacy reasons, saying it would be embarrassing for the client and that the client had asked that they immediately appeal any request to divulge his name.

But Wood pressed on.

When the name was announced, there were gasps and some laughter in a courtroom packed with journalists. A few of them raced from the courtroom.

Cohen's lawyers did not detail the type of legal work he did for Hannity.

On his radio show, Hannity said Cohen was never involved in any matter between him and any third party.

Hannity, an outspoken supporter of Trump, has been a fierce critic of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is looking into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Monday's hearing began with an appearance by porn actress Stormy Daniels, who was swarmed by photographers and nearly fell as she was hustled into the courthouse, a scene that captured the sensational atmosphere around the case.

The last to enter court, she was among the first to leave.

While in court, she smiled several times as she observed the proceedings from a folding chair near the back of the room.

Outside afterward, she said Cohen has acted like he's above the law and that she and her lawyer are committed to making sure everyone learns the truth.

The April 9 raid on Cohen sought information on a variety of matters, including a $130,000 payment made to Daniels, who alleges she had sex with a married Trump in 2006.

New York – 16 April 2018

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"Prosecutors were saying that lawyers for Michael Cohen and President Donald Trump were just trying to delay proceedings by asking for a process where they would look at all the evidence that was seized last week first, and then decide what was not violated by attorney-client privilege, and what prosecutors could use in their criminal investigation. Prosecutors say that's not the way to do it. They want a process whereby attorneys for Donald... President Donald Trump and Michael Cohen have a role in the process but aren't able to control the process. The judge seems eager, she said, to make whatever occurs not to...not slow up the process so that the government can do what it needs to do in its investigation, and yet, the attorney-client privilege is protected."

++BLACK FRAMES++

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"The judge did say that she may, and this is something that Michael Cohen's lawyers were requesting, that she may appoint a special master to at least have a limited role in deciding how the evidence is viewed and how they ultimately decide what is subject to attorney-client privilege. But she seemed also to be giving the government what it wants in letting the prosecutors, the special taint team they have –not their criminal prosecutors—get a look at all the evidence of putting it together so that they can hand it over to the attorneys for Michael Cohen and President Donald Trump to look at and for them to flag whatever they think should be subject to attorney-client privilege."

++BLACK FRAMES++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"Prosecutors revealed that when they did the raids on Michael Cohen's residence and his office, that they had numerous electronic devices, including telephones, and that for what they could, the computer devices, they actually took images. So, his lawyers, they say, already have much of the evidence and know what's there."

++BLACK FRAMES++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"The surprise moment in court came when the lawyers for Michael Cohen did not want to divulge one client who had asked to remain anonymous, saying that it could be embarrassing being associated with someone who's under criminal investigation. The judge forced them to divulge the name, it turned out to be Sean Hannity, a Fox News personality. And as soon as that name was announced, there was an audible gasp in the courtroom that's largely crowded with journalists, and some journalists immediately ran outside court, and you could see Stormy Daniels smiling on the side of the courtroom in the back, a little bit after this happened."

++BLACK FRAMES++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"Stormy Daniels has a role in this because Michael Cohen played a part in ultimately a payoff that she got to remain silent after what she says was an affair with the president."

++BLACK FRAMES++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Reporter:

"So, I think, ultimately, she has a role in the investigation because the settlement that was paid out to her. Michael Cohen says he paid her the money and he did it out of a home equity loan. So that's presumed to be part of the government's investigation."

++EDIT ENDS ON A SOUNDBITE++