Bad news for GOP: Mueller probe could collide with midterms
Campaign stink bombs loom as judge signals possible September start for Manafort-Gates trial.
By DARREN SAMUELSOHN
01/17/2018 05:01 AM EST
Robert Mueller’s Russia probe isn’t ending any time soon, and that’s bad news for President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans already bracing for a possible 2018 Democratic midterm wave.
While many Republicans insist the Trump-Russia saga is overblown, they worry headlines about federal indictments, high profile trials—and a potential blockbuster meeting between Mueller and Trump himself—could obscure their positive message ahead of November elections and threaten their House and Senate majorities.
In an ominous development for Republicans, a federal judge overseeing the upcoming trial of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates rejected Mueller’s request to begin in May and instead outlined a scheduled start as soon as September or October — peak election season.
more
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/17/republicans-mueller-midterms-russia-probe-341592
