Amy Klobuchar says Paul Manafort's surrender "could just be the beginning"
Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Monday that the move by President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort to surrender to federal authorities "could just be the beginning" in the Russia investigation.
"The issue is even if he is charged with something unrelated to Russia, it could just be the beginning," the Minnesota Democrat said in an interview with "CBS This Morning."
Manafort and his former business associate, Rick Gates, have been indicted by a federal grand jury as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. election, according to unsealed documents released Monday.
The 31-page indictment charges them on 12 counts including conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy against the U.S., unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading statements surrounding the Foreign Agents Registration Act , false statements and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.
CBS News spotted Manafort leaving his apartment in Alexandria, Virginia Monday morning with his lawyer and entering the Washington Field Office of the FBI.
A federal grand jury used by Special Counsel Robert Mueller approved the first charges stemming from the investigation, CBS News reported Friday.
Klobuchar said that Manafort failed to register under the Foreign Agent Act when he was representing the former government in Ukraine that was tied to Russia. She said that lawmakers are also aware of "shady business dealings" and "money laundering" involving reports of wire transfers in 2012 and 2013.
"I consider it a truth hunt and not a witch hunt," Klobuchar said when asked to react to Mr. Trump calling the investigation a "witch hunt." "We owe it to our democracy."
"What I want to know is how far this went, who was involved, and who gave the orders," she said about the federal probe.
Klobuchar discussed a bill she's co-sponsoring that would make political ads on social media more transparent, saying "it's about Americans having the right to know who's trying to influence them."
