Dread hangs over Washington as Mueller probe moves ahead

White House sources, meanwhile, coalesced around an argument that expectations of a big break in the case around allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia were now proven to be misguided. "Today has zero to do with the White House," a source close to the administration told CNN. Trump's attorney Jay Sekulow pointed out to CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an interview that that the charges laid against Manafort and Gates pertained to "business activities ... not campaign events."

But Mueller had a surprise up his sleeve -- one that cut deep into Trump's conceit that stories about Russian efforts to forge links with the Trump campaign were simply made up. An hour after the President's adamant tweet, it emerged that a former foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos, had admitted lying to the FBI about contacts with foreign officials close to the Russian government who discussed "dirt" relating to emails linked to Clinton.

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But the fact that the Manafort case alone will likely drag on for months -- well into 2018 and possibly beyond -- means that hopes in the White House that the Mueller process could be swiftly dismissed will be unfounded.

The Republican Party itself now faces a midterm election year with the President being continually tainted by the Russia affair and with several of his former high-profile associates potentially facing jail time after a high profile trial.
Democrats did not take long to preview their arguments.

"Paul Manafort and Rick Gates ran Trump's campaign and continued to be a part of his inner circle after Election Day," Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement. "This underscores the seriousness of the investigation into Donald Trump's ties to Russia. It's time for Republicans to commit to protecting this investigation and preserving the rule of law."

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