Paul Manafort Sues Mueller and Asks a Judge to Narrow the Russia Investigation

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WASHINGTON — President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, took the unusual step on Wednesday of suing the special counsel and asking a federal court to narrow his authority.

The move comes as Mr. Trump tries to cast the investigation as a politically motivated witch hunt that has cast a dark cloud over his administration and, in his view, the country. The president said last week that he hoped the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, will treat him fairly.

Mr. Mueller is investigating the Russian government’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election and whether anyone close to Mr. Trump was involved. As part of that investigation, prosecutors indicted Mr. Manafort on money laundering charges related to years of foreign lobbying — but not related to Russian election interference or the Trump campaign.

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Mr. Manafort argued in the lawsuit on Wednesday that Mr. Mueller had gone too far. He sued both Mr. Mueller and Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who appointed him. The lawsuit said Mr. Rosenstein had improperly given Mr. Mueller the authority to investigate “anything he stumbles across while investigating, no matter how remote.”

A spokesman for Mr. Mueller had no comment on the lawsuit.

The charges against Mr. Manafort date back years, well before he began working for Mr. Trump. His lawyers argue those charges exceed Mr. Mueller’s jurisdiction because he was authorized only to investigate separate matters if they arose from the Russia investigation.

That theory echoes comments made by Mr. Trump, who has said that Mr. Mueller cannot investigate his family’s personal finances.

Mr. Manafort asked a federal judge to reject Mr. Mueller’s appointment as overly broad. He asked a judge to dismiss the indictment against him and issue an order prohibiting Mr. Mueller from investigating anything beyond Russian meddling in the election.