Has anyone been charged yet?

Mueller’s investigation has led to multiple charges – although none are directly related to misconduct from the campaign.

Paul Manafort and his associate, Richard Gates, turned themselves over to federal authorities in October 2017 and were charged with 12 counts – ranging from conspiracy against the U.S. to conspiracy to launder money.  

As special counsel, Mueller took over the criminal investigation into Manafort’s financial dealings dating back prior to the election. Manafort worked for controversial former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russia politician who was ousted from power twice, and Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. In 2005, Manafort came up with a plan to influence U.S. politics, business dealings and the media in order to “greatly benefit the Putin Government,” according to the Associated Press.

Manafort joined Trump’s campaign ahead of the Republican National Convention to help wrangle delegates before becoming the campaign chairman. He resigned in August 2016.

Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has also been charged in connection with Mueller’s probe. Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to one charge of lying to the FBI – reportedly about his talks with a Russian ambassador.

Flynn was Trump’s national security adviser only for a short time, but his connection to the White House was rife with controversy that still bedevils the administration. Flynn resigned after less than a month in the position.

At issue was his contact with Moscow’s ambassador to Washington. Flynn and the Russian appear to have discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia late in 2016, raising questions about whether he was freelancing on foreign policy while former President Barack Obama was still in office and whether he misled Trump officials about the calls.

Additionally, George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser to Trump’s campaign, pleaded guilty in 2017 to making false statements to the FBI about his connections with Russian officials.

During his time on the campaign, Papadopoulos attempted to set up meetings between campaign officials and Russians on numerous occasions. He also interacted with a professor “understood to have substantial connections to Russian government officials” who told Papadopoulos that the Russians had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton, according to court documents released by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office.

Does anyone else on Trump’s team have connections to Russians or the investigation?

Donald Trump Jr., the president’s oldest son, got the administration into some hot water when it was revealed that he took a meeting with a Russian lawyer during the campaign who was supposed to have damning information about Clinton.

“This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump,” an email about the meeting said in part.

Trump Jr. maintained that the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, did not have any information to share and instead wanted to discuss the Magnitsky Act and other sanctions.

Manafort and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, were also at the meeting.

Kushner, too, has been under FBI scrutiny. Married to Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter, Kushner may possess substantial information relevant to the investigation, officials have said.

Although he’s denied colluding with Russians or knowing of anyone who did so, Kushner has had private meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to discuss the controversial meeting with Veselnitskya that occurred in the summer of 2016. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have accused him of not being forthcoming in the information divulged.

Steve Bannon, Trump’s former White House chief strategist, has agreed to meet with Mueller as part of his investigation, potentially  avoiding appearing under subpoena in front of a grand jury.

What about Trump?

Aside from his associates’ connections to Russians, the president has also found himself under scrutiny for certain interactions in office.

Trump sacked FBI Director James Comey on May 9, 2017 – less than two months after Comey publicly proclaimed the agency was investigating ties between Russia and Trump’s campaign.

The White House maintained Comey was let go due to his handling of an investigation into Clinton’s private email server used during her tenure as secretary of state. But Trump has alluded that he considered the Russian investigation when he fired Comey. 

Comey also informed a Senate intelligence committee that Trump had asked for the FBI to drop its investigation into Flynn; the White House said Trump was not attempting to influence his FBI director.

Comey, too, informed the committee that he offered Trump repeated reassurances that he was not under an FBI investigation.

After Comey’s dismissal, Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador at the time, where he shared classified information regarding ISIS threats, the Washington Post reported.

Trump told those officials that firing Comey – who he allegedly called a “nut job” – took “great pressure” off of him, The New York Times later reported

How did the Russian meddling allegations begin?

Before Trump ever took office, tens of thousands of emails from the Democratic National Committee and officials connected to Clinton were leaked.

Those emails – released in July 2016 – purportedly showed the party favoring Clinton over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and led to the resignation of party chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

But more than just ousting Wasserman Schultz, intelligence officials concluded those responsible for leaking the emails were connected to the Russian government. In its assessment of the hack, the CIA concluded that Russia intervened in the election in order to help Trump secure the presidency.

Source: Trump and the Russia investigation: What to know