President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort has surrendered to the FBI in Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged collusion between Trump campaign team members and Russian officials.

Mr Manafort and his longtime, former business partner Rick Gates were indicted on 12 counts of conspiracy against the US, conspiracy to launder money, various charges regarding being a foreign agent for Ukraine without properly reporting their work to the US government, and seven counts of failing to report foreign bank and financial accounts.

The documented stated that $75m (£57m) went in and out of offshore accounts controlled by the pair. Both Mr Manafort and Mr Gates appeared in court in Washington DC to plead not guilty to the charges.

What is a grand jury?

A grand jury is a legal body, comprised of 16 to 23 people, that is authorised to investigate criminal conduct.

Federal, state and county prosecutors utilise grand juries to decide whether probable cause exists to support criminal charges.

Grand juries are separate from the courts and can ask for documents as well as compel witnesses to testify. No judge presides over its proceedings.

Normally they meet in a room in the same building as the prosecutor’s office.

A regular jury - usually 12 people - only decides on the facts of a case and is only used for trials, where a unanimous vote is required.

Only a quorum is required for a grand jury indictment.

Grand juries and regular juries are chosen from the same pool of people.

So in this case, a grand jury heard evidence and concluded with a quorum that Mr Manafort and Mr Gates may have committed the crimes outlined in the indictment.

Is it significant that both Mr Manafort and Mr Gates were charged together?

Both Mr Manafort and Mr Gates have pleaded not guilty to the charges. But, in theory the pair can avoid going to trial by making plea bargains - essentially coming forth with information on any alleged collusion in exchange for either a lighter sentence or dropping charges.

Being charged together does not preclude either from a plea deal, however it may make it more complicated.

Mr Manafort has done business with Mr Gates for several years and the pair have been connected through documents of companies Mr Manafort had established in Cyprus, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Seychelles in order to receive payments from his Eastern European business and political clients,

As Mieke Eoyang, Vice President for the National Security Program at DC-based think tank Third Way, told The Independent, "it means that Manafort isn't the ultimate big fish that they intend to get.”

However “charging together suggests that Gates can't seek a better deal by flipping on Manafort,” Ms Eoyang noted.

“Manafort can try to negotiate better terms by implicating someone higher -- Trump or Pence. But we're still at the beginning of this thing. This is like the capture of the burglars in Watergate -- it's the start of the unwinding,” she explained.

More than 90 per cent of federal cases are settled through plea bargains.

What does Ukraine have to do with all this?

Both Mr Manafort and Mr Gates also being charged for not reporting their work in "direct[ing] a campaign to lobby US officials on behalf of the Government of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine, and Ukrainian political parties."

The pair have been accused in the indictment of operating as unregistered foreign agents for the Ukrainian government and Party of Regions - a pro-Russian political party in the country - leader Victor Yanukovych.

Mr Yanukovych served as President from 2010 to 2014 while being closely linked with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

What kinds of penalties could they face?

Mr Manafort and Mr Gates will likely lose assets if found guilty. The charges regarding Mr Manafort’s “lavish lifestyle” - he allegedly used $18m to buy property in the US and household goods - will perhaps involve property forfeiture if proven.

The pair could also face up to 80 years in prison for Mr Manafort and 70 years for Mr Gates.

Conspiracy against the US, charges failure to report foreign agent work, and the charge of false statements under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) carry a maximum sentence of five years each.

Each count could carry fines of up to $10,000.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

Money laundering carries the heaviest sentence. If convicted, it could result in up to 20 years in jail on that charge alone. This charge could also result in a "fine of either $500,000 or twice the monetary value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater," as the Washington Post reported.

Mr Manafort is 68 years old and Mr Gates is 45.

How does this affect Mr Trump?

The President tweeted this morning that the grand jury charges against Mr Manafort occurred before he became Mr Trump’s campaign manager.

He had served three months in the position, from June to August 2016 and was brought in mostly to oversee the July 2016 Republican National Convention.

He asked “why aren’t Crooked Hillary and Dems the focus???” attempting to shift focus to a topic he had been tweeting about over the weekend - the investigation into a deal selling uranium to a Russian company brokered and approved during the Obama administration while Ms Clinton was Secretary of State.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied any association between the Trump campaign and the accusations against Mr Manafort and Mr Gates.

George Papadapoulos, a former campaign aide who Ms Sanders referred to as only a “volunteer” on the foreign policy team, pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents working for special counsel Mr Mueller as well.

He said he lied to FBI agents about the nature of his interactions with "foreign nationals" who allegedly close connections to senior Russian government officials, specifically a “niece” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a Russian professor, and an associate of Donald Trump Jr’s who claimed to have “dirt” on Ms Clinton.

He is the first person to face criminal charges that cite interactions between Trump campaign associates and Russian intermediaries during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Mr Gates continued to serve as deputy campaign manager long after Mr Manafort department in August 2016. He has also reportedly continued to work with Trump administration officials, visiting the White House on numerous occasions.

What happens now?

Mr Manafort and Mr Gates have been arraigned in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. They are due back in court on Thursday 2 November.

Neither have responded to the indictment as yet but put in a plea of "not guilty" on all counts.

Mr Mueller has asked that bond for Mr Manafort be set at $10m (£7.6m) and for Mr Gates at $5m (£3.8m). The Special Prosecutor also asked for home detention for both, saying Mr Manafort posed a flight risk.