Pivotal moments in Mueller’s Trump investigation: 5 guilty pleas, 17 indictments and more

Robert S. Mueller III is appointed as special counsel by Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the Russia investigation because Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions recused himself. The appointment comes a little more than a week after Trump fired James B. Comey as FBI director. Although his administration says Comey was dismissed for mishandling the Hillary Clinton email investigation, Trump later tells Lester Holt of NBC News that “this Russia thing” was on his mind when he made the decision.

Frustrated by the Russia investigation, Trump reportedly orders the firing of Mueller. But White House Counsel Don McGahn refuses to relay the order to the Department of Justice and threatens to quit. Trump backs down, leaving Mueller in place.

Trump helps draft a misleading statement about a meeting that took place at Trump Tower during the presidential campaign. At the meeting, Donald Trump Jr. expected a Russian lawyer to provide incriminating information about Hillary Clinton. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and advisor, and campaign chairman Paul Manafort also attend.

George Papadopolous, a former foreign policy advisor to Trump’s campaign, pleads guilty to lying about his contacts with Russians who claimed to have “thousands of emails” on Clinton. The guilty plea, the first secured by Mueller, is not revealed until Oct. 30.

Manafort and his business partner, Rick Gates, are indicted on charges of money laundering and tax evasion. Though Manafort ran Trump’s campaign and Gates was his deputy, the charges involve their work in Ukraine and are unrelated to the presidential race. Both plead not guilty.

The special counsel’s office begins contacting corporations that hired Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, including pharmaceutical manufacturer Novartis and telecommunications giant AT&T. Cohen was paid through Essential Consultants LLC, a company he created in Delaware to funnel $130,000 in hush money to the porn star known as Stormy Daniels three weeks before the election.

Michael T. Flynn, a retired lieutenant general and Trump’s former national security advisor, pleads guilty to lying about his contacts with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition. Flynn and the ambassador discussed sanctions imposed by the Obama administration in retaliation for Russia’s election interference. Flynn agrees to help prosecutors.

Rosenstein, testifying at a House Judiciary Committee hearing, rejects Republican concerns that Mueller’s team is biased against Trump. “The special counsel’s investigation is not a witch hunt,” he says.

House Republicans release a memo that accuses the Justice Department of improperly eavesdropping on Carter Page, a former Trump foreign policy aide, during the presidential campaign. Some information in the application for a warrant to surveil Page, the memo says, came from Democratic-funded opposition research.

Thirteen Russians are indicted for allegedly interfering in the presidential campaign with stolen identities, fake campaign events and social media accounts. Mueller also charges three Russian companies, including the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency, which is considered to be a “troll factory” connected to the Kremlin. The indictments do not include any allegations that Trump aides were involved, but a California man, Richard Pinedo pleads guilty to identity theft for selling information to Russians.

Alex van der Zwaan, a former lawyer at a prestigious law firm, pleads guilty to lying to federal agents about his work with Manafort and Gates on a controversial report used to defend the former pro-Russian government of Ukraine against accusations that it had improperly prosecuted a political opponent. He is later sentenced to 30 days behind bars.

Gates pleads guilty to charges of conspiracy and lying to federal agents, and he agrees to cooperate with the special counsel’s office. Prosecutors file additional charges against Manafort alleging bank fraud and undisclosed lobbying on behalf of a foreign entity. He faces two trials, one in Virginia and one in Washington.

Democrats release their own memo defending the decision to start surveillance on Page. The judges who approved the warrant and renewed it three times knew some information in the application came from sources with political motivations, the Democrats point out. It also says “valuable intelligence” was obtained.

After conversations with the special counsel’s office about a potential presidential interview, Trump’s lawyers draft about four dozen questions they expect prosecutors may ask. The list, which is leaked to the media on May 1, includes a number of inquiries that could factor into an obstruction of justice investigation, such as “what did you mean when you told Russian diplomats on May 10, 2017, that firing Mr. Comey had taken the pressure off?&rdqud;

Using information passed along by Mueller, the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan launches raids on Cohen’s home, hotel room and office. Trump called the raids “disgraceful.” Prosecutors later tell the court that Cohen is the subject of a “months-long investigation” into “criminal conduct that largely centers on his personal business dealings.” He has not been charged.

Prosecutors tell a judge they began scrutinizing Manafort because they wanted to know if his longtime ties to Moscow provided a “back channel to Russia.” He has not been charged with any campaign-related crimes.

The Democratic National Committee files a federal lawsuit accusing Trump’s campaign, the Russian government and Wikileaks of conspiring to sway the election. The suit echoes a similar one after the Watergate burglary, which was settled after President Nixon resigned from office in 1974.

The lawyer for Stormy Daniels, Michael Avenatti, releases a document saying Cohen was paid $500,000 by Columbus Nova, a New York-based investment firm with ties to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Payments from other corporations that sought Cohen’s insight into the Trump administration are also revealed.