President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, Paul J. Manafort, asked a federal court Wednesday to void the Justice Department's appointment of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and charges Mueller's office filed against him, elevating Trump supporters' attempts to discredit the probe into Russian interference in last year's election. Manafort's attorneys argued in a 17-page lawsuit in federal court in Washington that the department exceeded its legal authority when, in May, acting attorney general Rod J. Rosenstein ordered Mueller to investigate "links and/or coordination" between the Russian government and Trump campaign, as well as "any matters that arose or may arise directly from" that investigation. "The actions of DOJ and Mr. Rosenstein in issuing the Appointment Order, and Mr. Mueller's actions pursuant to the authority the Order granted him, were arbitrary, capricious, and not in accordance with the law," they alleged. A DOJ spokesperson responded with a statement, saying: "The lawsuit is frivolous but the defendant is entitled to file whatever he wants." Manafort, 68, and his longtime deputy, Rick Gates, 45, have pleaded not guilty and remain under home detention awaiting trial on charges including money laundering and fraud.
– In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is challenging special counsel Robert Mueller's authority to investigate crimes and seeking to have the indictment against himself thrown out, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the Washington Post, the lawsuit calls the actions of Mueller, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and the Department of Justice "arbitrary, capricious, and not in accordance with the law." At issue is what the lawsuit claims was overly broad authority granted to Mueller by Rosenstein, CNN reports. Mueller was given orders to investigate possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government, as well as "any matters that arose or may arise directly from that." Manafort has been charged with money laundering, fraud, and more as part of Mueller's investigation. But the lawsuit claims those charges have nothing to do with the Trump campaign, instead arising from lobbying work Manafort did on behalf of Ukrainian groups. The lawsuit states that work ended in 2014. The lawsuit—which seeks to have Mueller removed as special counsel and prohibited from similar investigations against Manafort—states the indictment against Manafort "is completely unmoored from the special counsel's original jurisdiction." A spokesperson for the Department of Justice says Manafort's lawsuit "is frivolous, but the defendant is entitled to file whatever he wants."