title:  Trump Will Be Furious Because The IRS Is Sharing Info With Special Counsel Mueller
text: CNN is now reporting that, after months of confusion over the scope of the investigation into Russian election interference, the IRS is now working with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team. The IRS had previously also balked at the no-knock raid on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort s home at the beginning of August.Those concerns are clearly resolved at this point, as the independent government tax agency is now voluntarily sharing information with Mueller s squad.Mueller and the IRS worked jointly with the Treasury Department to come to an agreement over the matter, which was in question because of the specifics of Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein s written order for the special counsel, which allowed for Mueller to look into  any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.  Mueller s interpretation of that order included years of tax filings, as possible evidence of financial crimes.According to CNN, the IRS had already been working with the FBI on a probe of Manafort before the election, sending criminal investigators to look into potential tax evasion and money laundering. The IRS is also sharing information with Mueller about Michael Flynn, although it is uncertain if Flynn was being investigated for anything similar prior to November.To be perfectly clear, the IRS s previous objections to the Manafort raid were not over its propriety, but whether or not it would interfere with their own investigation of Manafort, whose dealings with former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych made him suspect in almost every way back here on American soil. IRS agents declined to participate in the raid, which Mueller elected to go ahead with using only FBI agents for assistance. Once inside, the team gathered up tax and other financial documents, which have since prompted Mueller s team to warn Manafort that they intend to charge him with tax and financial crimes.All of this, of course, brings back the question of whether or not Robert Mueller will have   or whether he already does have   access to Donald Trump s tax returns. There is little doubt that if the investigation turns up evidence of financial crimes committed by either Manafort or Flynn, the next logical place to look for evidence of collusion is in Trump s own returns.And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the last thing Donald Trump wants.Featured image via Andrew Burton/Getty Images