Russia probe nets first scalps
UNITED STATES: The special counsel investigating possible coordination between the Kremlin and US President Donald Trump’s election campaign has announced the first charges, indicting Trump’s former campaign chairman and revealing how an adviser lied to the FBI about meetings with Russian intermediaries.
The formal charges against a total of three people are the first public demonstration that Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team believe they have identified criminal conduct. And they send a warning that individuals in the Trump orbit who do not cooperate with Mueller’s investigators, or who are believed to mislead them during questioning, could also wind up charged and facing years in prison.
Paul Manafort, who steered Trump’s campaign for much of last year, and business associate Rick Gates ended yesterday under house arrest on charges that they funneled payments through foreign companies and bank accounts as part of their private political work in Ukraine.
George Papadopoulos, also a former campaign adviser, faced further questioning and then sentencing in the first - and so far only - criminal case that links the Trump election effort to the Kremlin.
Manafort and Gates, who pleaded not guilty in federal court, are not charged with any wrongdoing as part of the Trump campaign, and the president immediately sought to distance himself from the allegations. He said on Twitter that the alleged crimes occurred ‘‘years ago’’, and insisted anew that there was ‘‘NO COLLUSION’' between his campaign and Russia.
But potentially more perilous for the president is the guilty plea by Papadopoulos, who admitted in newly unsealed court papers that he was told in April 2016 that the Russians had ‘‘dirt’' on Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, in the form of ‘‘thousands of emails’' - well before it became public that the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails had been hacked.
Papadopoulos was not charged with having improper communications with Russians, but rather with lying to FBI agents when asked about the contacts. This suggests that Mueller - who was appointed in May to lead the US Justice Department’s investigation - is prepared to indict people for false statements even if the underlying conduct he uncovers might not necessarily be criminal.
The developments, including the unexpected unsealing of a guilty plea, usher Mueller’s investigation into a new, more serious phase. And the revelations in the guilty plea about an adviser’s Russian contacts could complicate Trump’s assertions that his campaign never coordinated with the Russian government to tip the 2016 presidential election in his favour, the central issue behind Mueller’s mandate.
The Papadopoulos plea occurred on October 5 but was not unsealed until yesterday, creating further woes for an administration that had prepared over the weekend to deflect the Manafort allegations.
In court papers, Papadopoulos admitted lying to FBI agents about the nature of his interactions with ‘‘foreign nationals’' who he thought had close connections to senior Russian government officials. The filings don’t provide details on the emails or who Papadopoulos may have told about the Russian government effort.
Papadopoulos has been cooperating with investigators, according to the court papers. His lawyers hinted strongly in a statement yesterday that their client had more testimony to provide.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Papadopoulos’s role in the campaign was ‘‘extremely limited’', and that ‘‘any actions that he took would have been on his own’'.
The criminal case against Manafort, who surrendered to the FBI in the morning, had long been expected.
The indictment naming him and Gates, who also had a role in the campaign, lays out 12 counts, including conspiracy against the US, conspiracy to launder money, acting as an unregistered foreign agent, making false statements, and several charges related to failing to report foreign bank and financial accounts.
The indictment alleges the men moved money through hidden bank accounts in Cyprus, St Vincent and the Grenadines and the Seychelles. In total, more than US$75 million flowed through the offshore accounts, according to the indictment. Manafort is accused of laundering more than US$18m.
Outside the courthouse, Manafort’s lawyer Kevin Downing attacked the charges. ‘‘There is no evidence that Mr Manafort or the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government,’' he said.
Manafort’s indictment doesn’t reference the Trump campaign or make any allegations about coordination between Russia and campaign aides. But it does allege that a criminal conspiracy was continuing through February of this year, after Trump had taken office.
Manafort was fired as Trump’s campaign chairman in August 2016, after word surfaced that he had orchestrated a covert lobbying operation on behalf of pro-Russian interests in Ukraine.
The indictment against Manafort and Gates was largely based on activities disclosed in August 2016 by The Associated Press, which reported that the pair had managed a covert Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine’s ruling political party.