October 30, 2017–Six months into a counterintelligence investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has filed a criminal indictment against Paul J. Manafort, Jr., and Richard W. Gates, former campaign manager and deputy campaign manager to the Donald Trump presidential campaign from June to August 2016.
The 31-page indictment speaks to the shadowy inner workings of Washington and the interplay between the political and for-profit lobbying worlds.
The charges involve hiding and laundering “tens of millions of dollars” through foreign nominee companies and offshore bank accounts across the globe, including Cyprus, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Seychelles. According to the indictment, more than $75 million flowed through offshore accounts and roughly $18 million was money laundered.
Manafort and Gates turned themselves into an FBI field office in Washington, DC. early on October 30. They face a 12-count indictment including charges of conspiracy, money laundering, tax evasion and failure to register as foreign agents as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act. They are long-time associates at the lobbying firm Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly as well as a swarm of foreign and domestic political consulting firms, including Davis Manafort Partners and DMP International.
Appearing before court Oct. 30, Manafort and Gates pleaded not guilty to all charges as federal prosecutors sought a $10 million bail and a house arrest for Manafort.
President Trump distanced himself from Manafort last Summer and again in the wake of the indictment through tweets on his Twitter feed and through his press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who said, “Today’s announcement has nothing to do with the president, and has nothing to do with the president’s campaign, or his campaign activity.”
Manafort previously worked on presidential campaigns for Republican presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush as Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole.
Trump Campaign Volunteer Pleads Guilty
In a separate case, George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser to then-candidate Trump, pleaded guilty to giving false information to the FBI about the timing of conversations he had with a Russian professor thought to have close ties the Russian government. Papadopoulos was an unpaid volunteer to the campaign and not a central figure or adviser. Asked by White House reporters about Papadopoulos’ position in the campaign, Huckabee said he had no activity in an official capacity. “It was extremely limited; it was a volunteer position,” she said.
Meanwhile, investigations into Russian interference in U.S. elections are ongoing on Capitol Hill. General counsels from Facebook, Google, and Twitter are scheduled to testify on Nov. 1 before the House and Senate Intelligence Committees on the Russian’s use of their social media platforms to spread misinformation or fake news.
Background:
Mueller’s investigation started May 17, 2017 when Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed him to serve as a special counsel for the Justice Department to investigate potential ties between the Russian government and individuals associated with the Donald Trump presidential campaign. The appointment came after President Trump fired then-FBI Director James Comey, who served while the bureau investigated Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser.
Mueller issued the sealed indictments over the weekend, setting off a flurry of speculation and uncertainty. It was not surprising that the indictment focused on Manafort. FBI agents had raided his home in Alexandria, Va. last July, seizing financial and tax records.
Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign after the New York Times reported on evidence that he had received as much as $12.7 million from Ukraine’s Party of Regions, a Russian-backed political party.
Sources:
31-page indictment: https://www.justice.gov/file/1007271/download
***
This story has been updated on Oct. 31 to reflect that the campaign official who pleaded guilty to lying to investigators was an unpaid volunteer to the campaign and not a central figure or adviser.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017 Patti Mohr