Mueller to Expand Election Meddling Probe to Mideast Nations in 2019 - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Office of US Special Counsel Robert Mueller intends to extend the probe into purported meddling in the 2016 presidential election to the Middle East countries, with the next year likely to see charges against the Donald Trump team over its alleged ties with these nations, The Daily Beast, reported, citing sources.

According to The Daily Beast, the prosecutors will expose Middle Eastern nations’ attempts to sway the US politics in early 2019.

The media outlet reported on Thursday that a number of representatives of the Trump team had already been questioned as part of the new probe, while two sources said that the Mueller office had been mulling issuing relevant charges "for months."

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The focus of the probe will be the countries’ purported attempts to both sway the vote in Trump’s favour and influence the US foreign policy in the early days of his administration.

Mueller is investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, as well as accusations of collusion between Trump and Moscow, which both Russia and the US leader have repeatedly denied.

The media reports about Mueller’s talks with individuals who might have been involved in alleged attempts of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to influence the Trump administration’s policies have been surfacing on a regular basis through the year.