NATION
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 9A
First guilty plea, indictment of Trump aides in Russia probe
Former campaign chair
charged with conspiracy
against the United States
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a
black Monday for Donald Trump’s
White House, the special counsel
investigating possible coordination
between the Kremlin and the Trump
presidential campaign 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 the day 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 alle-
gations. He said on Twitter that
the alleged crimes occurred “years
ago,” and he insisted anew there
was “NO COLLUSION” between
his campaign and Russia.
But potentially more perilous for
the president was the guilty plea by
former adviser Papadopoulos, who
admitted in newly unsealed court
papers that he was told in April
2016 that the Russians had “dirt”
on Democratic rival Clinton in the
form of “thousands of emails,” well
before it became public that the
Democratic National Committee
and Clinton campaign chairman
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Paul Manafort, left, leaves Federal District Court in Washington,
Monday, Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign
chairman, and Manafort’s business associate Rick Gates pleaded
not guilty to felony charges of conspiracy against the United States
and other counts.
John Podesta’s emails had been
hacked.
Papadopoulos was not charged
with having improper communica-
tions with Russians but rather with
lying to FBI agents when asked
about the contacts, suggesting that
Mueller — who was appointed
in May to lead the Justice Depart-
ment’s investigation — is prepared
to indict 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 the president’s
assertions that his campaign had
never coordinated with the Russian
government to tip the 2016 presiden-
tial election in his favor, the central
issue behind Mueller’s mandate.
Mueller’s investigation has
already shadowed the administra-
tion for months, with investigators
reaching into the White House to
demand access to documents and
interviews with key current and
former officials.
The Papadopoulos plea occurred
on Oct. 5 but was not unsealed until
Monday, 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 court filings don’t provide
details on the emails or whom
Papadopoulos may have told about
the Russian government effort.
Papadopoulos has been cooper-
ating with investigators, according
to the court papers. His lawyers
hinted strongly in a statement
Monday that their client has more
testimony to provide.
There, too, the White House
scrambled to contain the potential
fallout, with press secretary Sarah
Sanders contending that Papado-
poulos’ role in the campaign was
“extremely limited.” She said 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
United States, conspiracy to launder
money, acting as an unregistered
foreign agent, making false state-
ments 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 Grena-
dines and the Seychelles.
In total, more than $75 million
flowed through the offshore
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Donald Trump’s Twitter account via AP
In this photo from President Donald Trump’s Twitter account,
George Papadopoulos, third from left, sits at a table with then-can-
didate Trump and others at what is labeled at a national security
meeting in Washington.
accounts, according to the indict-
ment. Manafort is accused of
laundering more than $18 million.
Outside
the
courthouse,
Manafort attorney Kevin Downing
attacked the charges and said “there
is no evidence that Mr. Manafort or
the Trump campaign colluded with
the Russian government.”
Manafort’s indictment doesn’t
reference the Trump campaign
or make any allegations about
coordination between Russia and
campaign aides. But it does allege a
criminal conspiracy was continuing
through February of this year, after
Trump had taken office.
Manafort, 68, 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 oper-
ation on behalf of Ukraine’s ruling
political party.
Specifically, the indictment
accuses Manafort of using “his
hidden overseas wealth to enjoy
a lavish lifestyle in the United
States, without paying taxes on
that income.” That included using
offshore accounts.
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Trump fumes as
Mueller probe
enters new phase
WASHINGTON (AP) —
Special counsel Robert Muller’s
charges Monday against former
Trump campaign chairman
Paul Manafort and two other
aides marked a new phase in his
sprawling investigation into Russia
and President Donald Trump,
underscoring the ongoing threat
Mueller poses to the president.
Trump immediately sought to
distance himself after Manafort
and Rick Gates pleaded not
guilty to a 12-count indictment
alleging money laundering,
conspiracy and other offenses
and as another former aide was
revealed to be cooperating with
authorities after entering a guilty
plea for lying to the FBI.
Trump has become increas-
ingly concerned that the Mueller
probe could be moving beyond
Russia to an investigation into
his personal dealings, two
people familiar with the presi-
dent’s thinking said.
Trump
dismissed
the
money-laundering
charges
against Manafort as typical polit-
ical corruption that did not reflect
on his campaign.
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