First arrests in Washington related to Mueller's Russia inquiry

The first arrests in relation to the US inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election are imminent, with charges being brought against former campaign officials.

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has been ongoing since May of this year, and news outlets including The Wall Street Journal and CNN have reported that charges were filed last Friday for arrests this week.

Such arrests could be made as early as Monday, igniting a Twitter outburst from President Donald Trump.

Trump has said that allegations of cooperation between his campaign and Kremlin officials are false.

In Sunday’s rant, Trump wrote that the allegations were “phony” and constituted a “witch hunt” against his administration, and urged authorities to look at the actions of the Democrats and defeated rival Hillary Clinton.

“There is so much GUILT by Democrats/Clinton, and now the facts are pouring out. DO SOMETHING!” Trump said.

...are now fighting back like never before. There is so much GUILT by Democrats/Clinton, and now the facts are pouring out. DO SOMETHING!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2017

Intelligence agencies in the US concluded earlier this year that there were attempts from the Russian government to sway the election in favour of Trump.

Mueller was appointed to lead the investigation in the aftermath of Trump’s sacking of FBI director James Comey.