Criminal investigation

Mueller's own Russian conflict? FBI under his watch once asked oligarch at the center of jailed Kremlin escort's collusion claim to spend $25million to help rescue ex-agent held hostage in Iran

Robert Mueller's past ties to a Russian oligarch who is now a witness in the special counsel's probe are raising questions of a possible conflict of interest.  

On Monday, new details emerged about then-FBI Director Mueller's 2009 deal with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska to help rescue ex-agent hostage Robert Levinson from Iran, as recounted in a column by John Solomon for The Hill.

Now Deripaska's ties to Paul Manafort have brought him under the scrutiny of Mueller's investigators, raising the possibility of a conflict of interest and renewing ethical scrutiny on the millions the oligarch spent assisting the FBI in 2009.

The strange saga dates back to 2007, when Levinson, a retired agent for the FBI and DEA, disappeared on Iran's Kish Island while he was supposedly investigating cigarette smuggling - but was reportedly on a secret CIA mission.