Trump Campaign Foreign Policy Adviser's Guilty Plea Could Be More Important Than Mana

Trump Campaign Foreign Policy Adviser's Guilty Plea Could Be More Important Than Manafort's Indictment


George Papadopoulos lied about contact with people connected to the Russian government, the FBI says. He's been answering questions for the feds since July.


Eric Boehm|Oct. 30, 2017 11:29 am

https://media.reason.com/mc/eric.boe...pg?h=225&w=300Polaris/Newscom

George Papadopoulos, who served as a top foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign, pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI, according to documents unsealed by the U.S. Justice Department on Monday.

According to the FBI, Papadopoulos had contact with a professor "understood to have substantial connections to Russian government officials," and with a "female Russian national," whom he sought to use as a conduit between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

When questioned in January about his meetings and communications with both individuals, Papadopoulos gave false statements and omitted information that impeded the FBI's investigation into possible links between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, the indictment claims.

Papadopoulos was arrested in July at Dulles International Airport. Since then, he has "met with the government on numerous occasions to provide information and answer questions," according to the indictment unsealed Monday.

While the indictment of Paul Manafort, the former chairman of President Donald Trump's campaign (and of Rick Gates, a longtime Manafort associate) dominated headlines on Monday morning, there are several reasons to believe the indictment of Papadopoulos—and his guilty plea—may actually be more important.

First, as Reason's Scott Shackford noted earlier this morning, the Manafort indictment is far from the smoking gun that many in the anti-Trump crowd hoped it to be. Manafort is accused of taking money to lobby for Ukraine and laundering it through other countries and businesses so that they he wouldn't have to publicly account for it and pay taxes on it, but the alleged criminal activity seems to have occurred prior to and independent of Manafort joining the Trump campaign. That Trump hired someone with such questionable dealings certainly reflects poorly on the president's judgment and sense of character, but that's hardly new territory for the current occupant of the White House.

Second, Papadopoulos' indictment has a much more significant nexus with the actual Trump campaign. According to the FBI, Papadopoulos began communicating with the unnamed "professor" in March 2016, shortly before taking the role of foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign. The professor and Papadopoulos met on several occasions in Italy and London, according to the court documents, and during one of those meetings in April 2016, the professor told Papadopoulos that Russia had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton, including thousands of Clinton's emails. Papadopoulos shared that information with higher-ups in the Trump campaign.

Third, Papadopoulos—unlike Manafort and Gates—has already pleaded guilty and has been answering questions for the FBI for months. After his initial interview with the FBI in January, Papadopoulos was called back for a second interview in February. Around the same time, the FBI says, he deleted his Facebook account (which he had used to contact the professor and a woman with ties to the Russian government) and changed his cell phone number. Papadopoulos was arrested on July 27.

We don't know what additional information Papadopoulos has provided to the FBI since July, and we don't know whether Papadopoulos' guilty plea is an indication that the feds convinced him to "flip." Like the Manafort indictment, it's possible that announcing Papadopoulos' charges and plea are merely meant to scare other potential targets of the investigation into cooperating with the FBI as the probe continues.

On the other hand, as Harvard law professor Alex Whiting has suggested, these may be nothing more than easy charges that fell into special prosecutor Robert Mueller's lap.

Without knowing the prosecutorial strategy being employed by Mueller, it's hard to draw any conclusions from what we've seen this morning. Still, the Papadopoulos plea seems the more important development.

http://reason.com/blog/2017/10/30/tr...-pleads-guilty

Paul Manafort, Rick Gates indicted by federal grand jury in Russia probe

NO collusion.

This is all going to fizzle and when it does it's going to backfire on the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, the DOJ and the DemoQuacks. And rightly so.

At the end of the day what will be proven in court is that the FBI, CIA, NSA, Obama Administration, DNC and Clinton Campaign colluded with the DOJ to try to rig a Presidential election, just like Trump said.

Trump won the election in spite of it, but those crimes by government officials and employees against political opponents in a Presidential Election were a pathetic attempt to first hand the White House to Hillary Clinton and when that didn't work are now on-going efforts to frame a narrative to over-turn an election with a Witch Hunt to justify impeachment articles.

It's a prosecution looking for a crime while committing their own crimes in the process.

Republicans are supposed to stand up for civil rights, it's why our party was formed, hopefully we'll soon see Republicans doing that. Hope so anyway!

Paul Manafort and Rick Gates face decades in prison, millions in fines

http://www.denverpost.com/wp-content...4343.jpg?w=525

Matt Rourke, The Associated Press

In this photo taken July 17, 2016, Paul Manafort talks to reporters on the floor of the Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

By MICHAEL BIESECKER | The Associated Press
PUBLISHED: October 30, 2017 at 11:06 am | UPDATED: October 30, 2017 at 4:45 pm

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and Manafort’s business associate Rick Gates face decades in federal prison and millions of dollars in potential fines if convicted on all counts in a sprawling federal indictmentunsealed Monday.

Manafort potentially faces up to 80 years in prison, according to a review of the federal charges and the relevant statutes by The Associated Press. Gates, who also worked for the Trump campaign, faces up to 70 years.

Prosecutors could still file additional charges against the pair. If convicted at trial, the law gives federal judges wide latitude in imposing prison sentences and fines.

Prosecutors allege that Manafort and Gates worked as unregistered agents of the government of Ukraine and the Party of Regions, a pro-Russian political party led by Victor Yanukovych. While serving as president of the former Soviet republic from 2010 to 2014, Yanukovych was closely aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The indictment says that up to $75 million flowed through overseas accounts controlled by the two Americans. Manafort is alleged to have laundered more than $18 million he used to buy property and goods in the United States. Gates is alleged to have transferred more than $3 million to accounts he controlled.

A summary of the charges encompassed in the 31-page indictment and the potential penalties:

COUNT ONE: Conspiracy Against the United States

Both men are charged with conspiring together and with others to knowingly and intentionally defraud and commit crimes against the United States between 2006 and 2017. If found guilty of this count, each potentially faces up to five years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.

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COUNT TWO: Conspiracy to Launder Money

Both men are charged with conspiring together and with others to transfer funds from outside the United States to and through places inside the country without properly disclosing the transactions or paying required federal taxes. Penalties for this count include up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of either $500,000 or twice the monetary value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater.

COUNTS THREE THROUGH SIX: Failure to File Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts

The indictment alleges that for each calendar year between 2012 and 2015, Manafort failed to disclose to the U.S. Treasury Department that he had a financial interest in and authority over bank accounts in a foreign country involving more than $10,000. Penalties include up to 10 years in federal prison for each of the four counts and fines of up to $100,000, or up to 50 percent of the total value for the transactions, for each of the four years encompassed in the counts.

COUNTS SEVEN THROUGH NINE: Failure to File Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts

The indictment also alleges that between 2012 and 2014 Gates failed to disclose to the U.S. Treasury Department that he had a financial interest in and authority over bank accounts in a foreign country involving more than $10,000. Penalties include up to 10 years in federal prison for each of the four counts and fines of up to $100,000, or up to 50 percent of the total value for the transactions, for each of the four years encompassed in the counts.

COUNT TEN: Unregistered Agent of a Foreign Principal

Prosecutors allege that both men failed to register with the U.S. attorney general as foreign agents of the government of Ukraine, the Part of Regents and Yanukovych between 2008 and 2014. Penalties include up to five years in federal prison and up to $10,000 in fines.

COUNT ELEVEN: False and misleading statements under the Foreign Agents Registration Act

The indictment alleges that both men made multiple false statements to federal officials in relation to their failure to register as foreign agents of the Ukrainian government.

Penalties include up to five years in federal prison and up to $10,000 in fines.

COUNT TWELVE: False Statements

Prosecutors allege that between November 2016 and February 2017 that Manafort and Gates conspired together and caused others to make false statements and conceal crimes against the United States. The penalty for this count is up to five years in prison.

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/30...-prison-fines/

See all 31 pages of the indictment @

http://www.documentcloud.org/documen...ml#document/p1

A summary of the charges encompassed in the 31-page indictment and the potential penalties:

COUNT ONE: Conspiracy Against the United States

Both men are charged with conspiring together and with others to knowingly and intentionally defraud and commit crimes against the United States between 2006 and 2017. If found guilty of this count, each potentially faces up to five years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.

COUNT TWO: Conspiracy to Launder Money

Both men are charged with conspiring together and with others to transfer funds from outside the United States to and through places inside the country without properly disclosing the transactions or paying required federal taxes. Penalties for this count include up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of either $500,000 or twice the monetary value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater.

COUNTS THREE THROUGH SIX: Failure to File Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts

The indictment alleges that for each calendar year between 2012 and 2015, Manafort failed to disclose to the U.S. Treasury Department that he had a financial interest in and authority over bank accounts in a foreign country involving more than $10,000. Penalties include up to 10 years in federal prison for each of the four counts and fines of up to $100,000, or up to 50 percent of the total value for the transactions, for each of the four years encompassed in the counts.

COUNTS SEVEN THROUGH NINE: Failure to File Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts

The indictment also alleges that between 2012 and 2014 Gates failed to disclose to the U.S. Treasury Department that he had a financial interest in and authority over bank accounts in a foreign country involving more than $10,000. Penalties include up to 10 years in federal prison for each of the four counts and fines of up to $100,000, or up to 50 percent of the total value for the transactions, for each of the four years encompassed in the counts.

COUNT TEN: Unregistered Agent of a Foreign Principal

Prosecutors allege that both men failed to register with the U.S. attorney general as foreign agents of the government of Ukraine, the Part of Regents and Yanukovych between 2008 and 2014. Penalties include up to five years in federal prison and up to $10,000 in fines.

COUNT ELEVEN: False and misleading statements under the Foreign Agents Registration Act

The indictment alleges that both men made multiple false statements to federal officials in relation to their failure to register as foreign agents of the Ukrainian government.

Penalties include up to five years in federal prison and up to $10,000 in fines.

COUNT TWELVE: False Statements

Prosecutors allege that between November 2016 and February 2017 that Manafort and Gates conspired together and caused others to make false statements and conceal crimes against the United States. The penalty for this count is up to five years in prison.

Who’s who in the George Papadopoulos court documents

By Rosalind S. Helderman October 30 at 9:32 PM

Newly released court documents show that Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos communicated with several senior campaign officials about his outreach to the Russian government over a period of months. The recipients of Papadopoulos’s emails are not named in the filings, but The Washington Post has identified several individuals based on interviews and other documents. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty this month to lying to federal agents about his outreach to Russia.
“The Campaign Supervisor”: Trump campaign national co-chairman Sam Clovis

Victoria Toensing, an attorney for Sam Clovis, confirmed that several references in court filings to “the campaign supervisor” refer to the onetime radio host from Iowa, who served as Trump’s national campaign co-chairman.

At one point, Papadopoulos emailed Clovis and other campaign officials about a March 24, 2016, meeting he had in London with a professor, who had introduced him to the Russian ambassador and a Russian woman he described as “Putin’s niece.” The group had talked about arranging a meeting “between us and the Russian leadership to discuss U.S.-Russia ties under President Trump,” Papadopoulos wrote.
(Papadopoulos later learned that the woman was not Putin’s niece, and while he expected to meet the ambassador, he never did, according to filings.)

Clovis responded that he would “work it through the campaign,” adding, “great work,” according to court documents.

In August 2016, Clovis responded to efforts by Papadopoulos to organize an “off the record” meeting with Russian officials. “I would encourage you” and another foreign policy adviser to the campaign to “make the trip, if it is feasible,” Clovis wrote.

Toensing said Clovis “always vigorously opposed any Russian trip for Donald Trump and/or the campaign.” She said his responses to Papadopoulos were courtesy by “a polite gentleman from Iowa.”

“High-Ranking Campaign Official”: Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski

Emails previously described to The Post indicate that the “high-ranking campaign official” described in court documents is onetime campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. The emails were among more than 20,000 pages that the Trump campaign turned over to congressional committees after review by White House and defense lawyers.

Lewandowski, who was pushed out of his post in June 2016, did not respond to requests for comment.Papadopoulos wrote to Lewandowski several times to let him know that the Russians were interested in forging a relationship with the campaign, court filings show.

In one email on April 27, 2016, Papadopoulos wrote “to discuss Russia’s interest in hosting Mr. Trump.”

“Have been receiving a lot of calls over the last month about Putin wanting to host him and the team when the time is right,” he added.

In May, Papadopoulos forwarded to Lewandowski an offer of “cooperation” from a Russian with links to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Is this something we want to move forward with?” he asked.

There is no indication if or how Lewandowski responded to those messages. But in June, when Papadopoulos emailed him again about Russia, Lewandowski referred him to Clovis because he “is running point,” according to court documents.

[Top campaign officials knew of Trump adviser’s outreach to Russia]

“Another high-ranking campaign official”: Campaign chairman Paul Manafort

The court filings indicate that Papadopoulos emailed “another high-ranking campaign official” on May 21, 2016, with the subject line “Request from Russia to meet Mr. Trump.”

The Post has previously identified this official as Paul Manafort, who was indicted Monday on unrelated criminal charges.

Manafort forwarded Papadopoulos’s email to another campaign official, stating: “We need someone to communicate that DT is not doing these trips,” referring to a trip to Russia. “It should be someone low level in the campaign so as not to send any signal.”

Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni in August told The Post that the campaign chairman’s response indicated that “any invitation by Russia, directly or indirectly, would be rejected outright.”

“Another campaign official”: Manafort deputy Rick Gates

The Post has previously identified the official who received the May 21, 2016, email from Manafort as his deputy, Rick Gates. Gates was indicted Monday on unrelated criminal charges.
“Senior Policy Advisor”: Unknown

The court filings indicate that on April 27, 2016, Papadopoulos emailed a “senior policy advisor” and wrote, “Have some interesting messages coming in from Moscow about a trip when the time is right.”

The Post has not identified this official.

“The Professor”: Joseph Mifsud, director of the London Academy of Diplomacy

According to emails previously described to The Post, the London-based professor who was a key contact for Papadopoulos in his Russian outreach is Joseph Mifsud, who formerly served as a government official in Malta.

Mifsud did not respond to a request for comment Monday. In an email to The Post in August, he wrote that he had “absolutely no contact with the Russian government” and said his only ties to Russia were through academic links.

Papadopoulos met Mifsud in March 2016 while traveling in Italy, according to court records. The professor “seemed uninterested” in Papadopoulos until he learned that he was a campaign adviser, according to court filings.

Five days after Trump named Papadopoulos as one of his advisers during a meeting at The Post, Papadopoulos and Mifsud met in London. The professor brought with him a Russian woman who was introduced as a relative of President Vladimir Putin who had connections to senior Russian government officials.

The following month, Mifsud told Papadopoulos that he had just returned from Moscow, where he had learned from high-level Russian government officials that Russia had “dirt” on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, including “thousands of emails.”

“The Female Russian National”: Unknown
Court documents show that Papadopoulos corresponded with a “female Russian national” whom he initially believed was Putin’s niece.

At one point, she wrote to him, “The Russian Federation would love to welcome [Trump] once his candidature would be officially announced.”

The Post has not identified the woman.

“A Russian National Connected to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs”: Ivan Timofeev

In April 2016, Mifsud introduced Papadopoulos over email to a man in Moscow who told Papadopoulos that he had connections to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, court records show.

Emails previously described to The Post indicate that the man is Ivan Timofeev, a program director at a Russian government-funded think tank called the Russian International Affairs Council.
Papadopoulos communicated via Skype and email with Timofeev to discuss establishing ties between Russian officials and the Trump campaign.

On Monday, Timofeev declined to comment, referring a reporter to a statement the Russian International Affairs Council posted in August in response to a Post story. The statement said that Papadapoulos had contacted the council and “put forth the idea of a possible visit to Russia by Mr. Trump or his team members.”

“Given the RIAC’s established practice of hosting public meetings with prominent politicians and public figures from the U.S. and other countries, the U.S. initiative was a matter of routine for the Council,” the statement said, pointing out that among the council’s guest speakers was former U.S. ambassador Michael McFaul.

Timofeev told The Post in August that the idea of a meeting with Trump officials was dropped after he received no official request from the Trump campaign for a meeting.

David Filipov in Moscow, Karla Adam in London, and Tom Hamburger and Robert Costa in Washington contributed to this report.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.1f9541417902

All nothing-burger. Fizzle. Fizzle.