Russian collusion probe: What charges against Manafort, Gates and Papadopoulos could mean for Trump

The news about George Papadopoulos establishes an effort by Russia to contact the Trump campaign in an effort to help Trump win the presidency

Five months into Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of cooperation between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, Americans are seeing the first legal maneuvers in the case.

Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and his business associate Rick Gates surrendered to U.S. District Court on Oct. 30, after being indicted by a grand jury. Both pleaded not guilty to 12 counts, including conspiracy.

Hours later, we learned a foreign policy advisor to the campaign, George Papadopoulos, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI earlier in the month.

What does all of this mean?

For those of us who