Tag: Paul Manafort

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Trump Adviser Rick Gates To Plead Guilty And Cooperate In Mueller Investigation

Rick Gates, a top level adviser to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, is expected to plead guilty to charges related to participating in financial conspiracy along with former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.

Gates is also expected to admit to lying to investigators regarding a 2013 Washington meeting Manafort took part in with a member of Congress and a lobbyist.

Via The New York Times:

The adviser, Rick Gates, is a longtime political consultant who once served as Mr. Trump’s deputy campaign chairman. The plea deal could be a significant development in the investigation — a sign that Mr. Gates plans to offer incriminating information against his longtime associate and the former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, or other members of the Trump campaign in exchange for a lighter punishment.

The deal comes as the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has been raising pressure on Mr. Gates and Mr. Manafort with dozens of new charges of money laundering and bank fraud that were unsealed on Thursday in Alexandria, Va. Mr. Mueller first indicted both men in October, and both pleaded not guilty.

Gates was Donald Trump’s Deputy Campaign Chair, and stayed with the campaign and transition team even after Manafort was booted from the campaign.

Gates becomes the 5th person who has plead guilty in the Mueller probe:

• Rick Gates
• Michael Flynn
• George Papadopoulos
• Richard Pinedo
• Alex Van Der Zwann

Gates is now the 3rd member of the Trump campaign who has plead guilty.

Additionally, there have been 14 indictments to come out of the investigation looking into Russian disruption of the 2016 presidential election.

For a “witch hunt” or “hoax,” that’s a LOT of guilty pleas and indictments, don’t you think?

Watch NBC News‘ Pete Williams explain today’s developments below.

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Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort & Associate Charged With 12 Counts Including Conspiracy Against U.S. And Money Laundering

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort

Former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about interactions with foreign agents with close contact to the Russian government.

Additionally, former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, and his longtime associate Rick Gates have been charged on 12 counts by special counsel Robert Mueller.

From CNN:

In court records unsealed on Monday, the FBI said George Papadopoulos “falsely described his interactions with a certain foreign contact who discussed ‘dirt’ related to emails” concerning Hillary Clinton.

In addition, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former Trump campaign official Rick Gates surrendered Monday to Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller.

Gates, 45, is a longtime business associate of Manafort, 68, having worked together since the mid-2000s, and served as his deputy on the campaign. The two were indicted under seal on Friday, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The charges against Manafort and Gates are unrelated to the Trump campaign, but Papadopoulos’ guilty plea brings the Mueller probe into actions that occurred during the 2016 campaign.

Papadopoulos lied to FBI agents “about the timing, extent and nature of his relationships and interactions with certain foreign nationals whom he understood to have close connections with senior Russian government officials,” according to the complaint. Mueller signed a 14-page statement regarding Papadopoulos’ offense, which lays out of the facts of the case.

The indictment against Manafort and Gates contains 12 counts: conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.

The charges do not cover any activities related to the campaign, though it’s possible Mueller could add additional charges.

Note: Papadopoulos was arrested on July 27, 2017, and we are just now hearing about it. While the White House has tons of info leaks going on, Robert Mueller’s investigation is tight and locked down. No leaks coming from his team.

Donald Trump responded to the charges via Twitter saying the actions noted in Manafort’s charges

Meanwhile, as the nation focuses on the fact that advisers to the president have been indicted on charges of conspiracy against the United States, this is what Fox News is doing this morning:

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Trump Campaign Chair Manafort Offered Russian Billionaire “Private Briefings” On Presidential Campaign

Paul Manafort

The Washington Post is reporting that former campaign chairman Paul Manafort offered a Russian billionaire “briefings” on the state of the presidential campaign last July at the height of the election.

Less than two weeks before Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination, his campaign chairman offered to provide briefings on the race to a Russian billionaire closely aligned with the Kremlin, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Paul Manafort made the offer in an email to an overseas intermediary, asking that a message be sent to Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate with whom Manafort had done business in the past, these people said.

“If he needs private briefings we can accommodate,” Manafort wrote in the July 7, 2016, email, portions of which were read to The Washington Post along with other Manafort correspondence from that time.

The emails are among tens of thousands of documents that have been turned over to congressional investigators and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s team as they probe whether Trump associates coordinated with Russia as part of Moscow’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election.

A spokesperson for Manafort called the emails “innocuous.”

No wonder the investigation is focusing on Manafort.

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Former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort Wiretapped Due To Russian Ties

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort

A lot of bad news tonight for former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

• Back in July when federal agents appeared at his home to search his home for evidence in connection to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, experts say he was “setting a tone” for the investigation.

That search was followed by a message from Mueller’s team: prosecutors planned to indict him.

According to the New York Times, Manafort is now “under investigation for possible violations of tax laws, money-laundering prohibitions and requirements to disclose foreign lobbying.”

• In 2014, Manafort became the subject of a legally authorized wiretap via Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant.

The warrant expired in mid-2016 but was renewed as part of the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Such warrants require evidence showing suspicion that the subject of the warrant may be acting as an agent of a foreign power.

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Former Trump Campaign Chairman Notes Include Cryptic “Donations” During Russian Meeting At Trump Tower

Paul Manafort

NBC News reports that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort made notes about “donations” and the Republican National Committee during the now infamous June 2016 meeting with a Russian government attorney at Trump Tower.

Paul Manafort’s notes from a controversial Trump Tower meeting with Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign included the word “donations,” near a reference to the Republican National Committee, two sources briefed on the evidence told NBC News.

The references, which have not been previously disclosed, elevated the significance of the June 2016 meeting for congressional investigators, who are focused on determining whether it included any discussion of donations from Russian sources to either the Trump campaign or the Republican Party.

It is illegal for foreigners to donate to American elections. The meeting happened just as Trump had secured the Republican nomination for president, and he was considered a longshot to win. Manafort was the campaign chairman at the time.

Manafort’s notes, typed on a smart phone and described by one briefed source as cryptic, were turned over to the House and Senate intelligence committees and to Special Counsel Robert Mueller. They contained the words “donations,” and “RNC” in close proximity, the sources said.

Previous statements from Don Jr. mentioned Manafort was “on his phone” as if he wasn’t interested.

“On his phone taking notes” now makes it seem like the meeting was more important than initially characterized.

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Special Counsel Robert Mueller Teaming Up With NY Attorney General On Paul Manafort Investigation

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort

Politico is reporting tonight that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team of investigators into Russian interference in the 2016 election are collaborating with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on its investigation into former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his financial transactions.

The cooperation is the latest indication that the federal probe into President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman is intensifying. It also could potentially provide Mueller with additional leverage to get Manafort to cooperate in the larger investigation into Trump’s campaign, as Trump does not have pardon power over state crimes.

The two teams have shared evidence and talked frequently in recent weeks about a potential case, these people said. One of the people familiar with progress on the case said both Mueller’s and Schneiderman’s teams have collected evidence on financial crimes, including potential money laundering.

Bolding is mine.

Many felt Trump’s pardon of Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio was a signal from Trump that he might pardon anyone caught up in the Special Counsel’s investigation.

State charges would certainly short-circuit Trump’s powers should Manafort’s situation grow dire.

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Senate Judiciary Committee Issues Subpoena To Former Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort

Paul Manafort

It looks like former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort tried to play hardball with the Senate Judiciary Committee and lost.

After negotiations for a voluntary interview broke down, the Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election has issued a subpoena requiring Mr. Manafort’s attendance at a hearing.

From USAToday:

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the panel’s ranking Democrat, confirmed the action Tuesday in a joint statement, saying that a Manafort offer to provide “a single transcribed interview” to Congress, which would not be made available to the Senate panel, was unacceptable.

The Senate and House Intelligence committees also are conducting parallel inquiries into possible coordination between the campaign and Russia.

“While the Judiciary Committee was willing to cooperate on equal terms with any other committee to accommodate Mr. Manafort’s request, ultimately that was not possible,” the panel leaders said.

The subpoena was issued late Monday night and demands Manafort’s appearance at a Wednesday hearing.

“As with other witnesses, we may be willing to excuse him from Wednesday’s hearing if he would be willing to agree to production of documents and a transcribed interview,” the senators said.

Here’s the full statement from the Senate Judiciary Committee:

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Trump Jr., Paul Manafort & Jared Kushner To Testify Before Senate Committees

Don Trump Jr. (L), Paul Manafort (C), Jared Kushner (R)

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has announced that Donald Trump Jr. and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort will testify in an open hearing under oath on July 26.

Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner has agreed to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on July 24, but in a closed door session.

Why is Kushner’s testimony happening under wraps as opposed to Junior and Manafort?

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, told CNN, “There has been an enormous amount that has been said publicly but it’s not under oath, which means that people are free to omit matters or lie with relative impunity.”

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Paul Manafort, Former Trump Campaign Chair, Volunteers To Interview With House Intel Committee

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes announced at a press conference today that Paul Manafort, former Donald Trump campaign chair, has volunteered to be interviewed by the committee.

While it’s admirable he “volunteered,” Manafort was going to have to testify before this committee no matter what.

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Former Trump Campaign Chair Hires Crisis Communications Team Over Russian Ties

Paul Manafort, who was Donald Trump’s campaign chairman for several months last year before being dismissed over Russian connections, has hired a crisis communication team.

Via The Hill:

The move comes as Manafort faces scrutiny over possible ties to Russia centered on his past consulting work for officials in Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s pro-Russia government.

Manafort’s new spokesman is Jason Maloni, a former vice president at Levick who formed his own firm, called JadeRoq, late last year.

“Paul retained me recently because he was getting a lot of media inquiries. Having some support in this area allows folks like you to get your answers faster and allows him to focus on other matters,” Maloni said in an email.
FBI Director James Comey on Monday confirmed publicly that law enforcement is investigating possible ties between Trump campaign officials and Russia. Manafort is widely believed to be among the targets of that investigation.

The White House, curiously, has begun to put some space between Manafort and Team Trump. Yesterday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer described Manafort as someone who “played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time.”