A federal judge in Virginia has ruled against an effort by the defense team of former Trump campaign aide Paul Manafort to throw out tax and bank fraud charges against him.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis rejected the assertion that special counsel Robert Mueller exceeded his authority by bringing the financial charges. Mueller is investigating ties between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Ellis previously asked Mueller's team if it brought the financial charges to get Manafort to testify against Trump.
An August 2017 memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein indicates Mueller was authorized to investigate financial crimes, as well as Manafort's involvement in Ukrainian affairs.
