Trump aides charged over Russian link
Campaign figure admits he lied to FBI about contact with Russians
US president Donald Trump has moved to distance himself from the indictment of his former campaign chairman and another aide, saying Paul Manafort’s alleged misdeeds occurred “years ago” and insisting there was no collusion between his electoral campaign and Russia.
Two former senior campaign aides have been charged with conspiring against the US.
An investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election has claimed its first casualties, with a former campaign adviser to president Donald Trump admitting he lied to the FBI about his contacts with Russians.
The guilty plea by former adviser George Papadopoulos marked the first criminal case that cites interactions between Trump campaign associates and Russian intermediaries during last year’s presidential campaign.
Mr Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business associate Rick Gates were separately indicted on felony charges of conspiracy against the United States. The pair pleaded not guilty following their arrest, having surrendered to fed- eral authorities yesterday. The developments ushered a sprawling investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into a new phase with felony charges and possible prison sentences for key members of the Trump team.
Court papers also revealed Papadopoulos was told about the Russians possessing “dirt” on Democrat Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands of e-mails” on 26 April last year, well before it became public the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s e-mails had been hacked.
Papadopoulos had been cooperating with investigators, according to court papers – a potentially ominous sign for others in the Trump orbit who might be implicated.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders yesterday downplayed Papadopoulos’s role in the presidential campaign, saying it was “extremely limited”.
“He was not paid by the campaign,” Ms Sanders said.
The president quickly tweeted about the allegations against Manafort, saying the crimes were “years ago”, and insisting there was “NO COLLUSION” between his campaign and Russia.
Papadopoulos’s plea was unsealed yesterday. In court papers, he admitted lying to FBI agents about the nature of his interactions with “foreign nationals”, whom he thought had close connections to senior Russian government officials.
Those interactions included speaking with Russian intermediaries who were attempting to line up a meeting between Mr Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin and offering “dirt” on rival Hillary Clinton. The FBI interviewed Papadopoulos about his Russian connections on 27 January – a week after Mr Trump’s inauguration. Papadopoulos was arrested over the summer at Dulles International Airport.
The separate charges against Manafort and Gates contend the men acted as unregistered foreign agents for Ukrainian interests.
Manafort’s indictment does not reference the Trump campaign or make any allegations about co-ordination between the Kremlin and the president’s aides to influence the outcome of the election in Mr Trump’s favour. The indictment does allege a criminal conspiracy was continuing through February of this year, after Mr Trump had taken office.
The indictment filed in Washington accuses both Manafort and Gates of funnelling payments through foreign companies and bank accounts as part of their political work in Ukraine.
The indictment lays out 12 counts, including conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, acting as an unregistered foreign agent, making false statements and several charges related to failing to report foreign bank accounts. The indictment alleges the men moved money through hidden bank accounts in Cyprus, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Seychelles.
More than $75 million is alleged to have flowed through the offshore accounts.