Paul Manafort Loses Challenge To Mueller’s Authority

Courthouse News reports:

A federal judge on Friday tossed out former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort’s civil lawsuit challenging the authority of the special counsel who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Manafort had asked the court in his Jan. 3 lawsuit to dismiss the criminal charges pending against him in Washington, alleging that Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s special counsel appointment order failed to comply with Department of Justice regulations.

Manafort had also claimed that special counsel Robert Mueller exceeded his authority by indicting him for conspiracy, money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent for lobbying work he did on behalf of a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine, since those matters did not relate to Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.