D.C. lobbyist admits to failing to register as foreign agent

A business associate of a codefendant of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleaded guilty yesterday to failing to register as a foreign agent for a Ukrainian political party and also admitted his role in a $50,000 donation scheme involving the presidential inauguration.

W. Samuel Patten entered his plea in federal court in Washington as prosecutors accused him of performing lobbying and consulting work in the United States but failing to register as a foreign agent as required by the Justice Department.

As part of his agreement with prosecutors, Patten admitted to lying to the Senate intelligence committee during its investigation into Russian election interference and of participating in a scheme to circumvent the ban on foreign donations to President Trump’s inaugural committee by lining up a straw purchaser to pay $50,000 for four tickets to the inauguration.

The Patten case was referred by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team to the United States attorney in Washington, said Bill Miller, a spokesman for that office. Andrew Weissmann, one of the lead Mueller team attorneys in the Manafort prosecution, was also in the courtroom yesterday during Patten’s appearance. And Patten’s plea agreement specifically requires him to cooperate with the special counsel’s probe.

Patten’s attorney Stuart Sears declined to comment.

Patten was a business associate of Konstantin Kilimnik, a man U.S. authorities have said has ties to Russian intelligence.

Kilimnik worked closely with Manafort, who was found guilty this month of eight financial counts. Kilimnik also is a co-defendant in a pending case against Manafort in Washington, brought by Mueller’s team, that accuses them both of witness tampering.

Court papers don’t refer to Kilimnik by name, but say Patten worked with a Russian national on lobbying and political consulting services.

The documents trace years of work Patten performed for a wealthy Ukrainian businessman and a Ukrainian political party known as the Opposition Bloc beginning in 2014. The goal all along, prosecutors say, was to influence U.S. policy. But they say Patten never filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act or disclosed that he was representing the foreign businessman or the Opposition Bloc.