Ex-Trump campaign adviser pleads guilty to making false statement
Papadopoulos pleads guilty to lying to the FBI
Story highlights
- The developments signal a dramatic new phase of Mueller's wide-ranging investigation
- They are the first people in Trump's orbit charged in connection with the special counsel investigation
Washington (CNN)A
former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser has pleaded guilty to
making a false statement to the FBI after he lied about his interactions
with foreign officials close to the Russian government -- the
campaign's clearest connection so far to Russia's efforts to meddle in
the 2016 election.
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 Democratic presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton. Records also describe an email between Trump
campaign officials suggesting they were considering acting on Russian
invitations to go to Russia.
In
addition, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former Trump
campaign official Rick Gates surrendered Monday to Justice Department
special counsel Robert Mueller.
The
charges against top officials from Trump's campaign signals a dramatic
new phase of Mueller's wide-ranging investigation into possible
collusion between the Russian government and members of Trump's team as
well as potential obstruction of justice and financial crimes.
Cillizza: Why George Papadopoulos' guilty plea is a much bigger problem for Trump than the Manafort indictment
Papadopoulos'
guilty plea brings the Mueller probe into actions that occurred during
the 2016 campaign. The charges against Manafort and Gates are unrelated
to the Trump campaign, though it's possible Mueller could add additional
charges.
Gates,
45, is a longtime business associate of Manafort, 68. The pair worked
together since the mid-2000s, and Gates served as Manafort's deputy on
the campaign. The two were indicted under seal on Friday, a source with
direct knowledge of the matter said.
President Donald Trump distanced himself from Manafort on Monday morning, asking why Clinton wasn't being investigated.
"Sorry,
but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump
campaign. But why aren't Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????"
He soon added: "Also, there is NO COLLUSION!"
He tweeted before Papadopoulos' guilty plea was unsealed.
Campaign official suggested 'low level' staff should go to Russia
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.
In May, Papadopoulos
sent an email to a "high-ranking campaign official" with the subject
line "Request from Russia to meet Mr. Trump." The email said Russian
officials were eager to meet with the candidate and had been reaching
out.
ed in the email as his
"national chairman"). Papadopoulos writes the meeting has been
"approved from our side."
Mueller's
statement also says that Papadopoulos met in March 2016 with a Russian
woman -- introduced to him as a relative of Russian President Vladimir
Putin, though she was not -- and he sought to use her connections to
arrange a meeting between the campaign and Russian government officials.
The
statement also says that Papadopoulos falsely claimed he met with an
overseas professor before joining the Trump campaign about "the Russians
possessing 'dirt' on then-candidate Hillary Clinton in the form of
'thousands of emails.'"
The professor only took interest in Papadopoulos because of his status on the campaign, according to the statement.
A
former Trump campaign official said Papadopoulos interacted with the
campaign "a significant amount" during the 2016 election cycle.
"He
was a foreign policy adviser," said the official, who described
Papadopoulos as an adviser who was in contact with the campaign staff
via email and not a familiar face around Trump Tower. The official said
Papadopoulos exchanged emails "constantly" on foreign policy matters
with the Trump team during the campaign.
Another former senior campaign adviser said of Papadopoulos: "He was a zero. A non-event."
When
asked about Papadopoulos' role in the campaign, White House press
secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters his role was "extremely limited"
and called it a "volunteer position."
Sanders
said the fact that Papadopoulos did not tell the truth "has nothing to
do with the campaign" and said he never acted in an official capacity.
"He
reached out and nothing happened beyond that. That shows one, his level
of importance in the campaign, and two, shows what little role he had
within coordinating anything officially for the campaign."
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 statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file
reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.
The
two pleaded not guilty before US District Magistrate Judge Deborah
Robinson on Monday afternoon. Other than stating their names, neither
man spoke. Gates was represented by a public defender.
A
federal judge ordered home confinement for Manafort and Gates and set
bond at $10 million for Manafort and $5 million for Gates. The
defendants will have to check in daily with law enforcement by phone,
and they will only be allowed to leave their homes to see their
attorneys, to appear at court or for medical and religious necessities.
Glenn Selig, a
spokesman for Gates, said Monday afternoon that Gates "welcomes the
opportunity to confront these charges in court" and won't comment
further until he's had a chance to review the indictment with his legal
team. CNN has reached out to Manafort's lawyer for comment.
Manafort
and Gates were the first officials in Trump's orbit charged in
connection with the special counsel investigation, which is exploring
whether Trump's actions surrounding the firing of former FBI Director
James Comey amount to obstruction of justice. Mueller has taken a broad
approach to his mandate that includes a focus on the financial dealings
of Trump's team.
Trump has been briefed on the charges against Manafort and Gates, a source close to the President told CNN.
At
the briefing Monday afternoon, Sanders said Trump did not have much of a
reaction to the Mueller news "because it doesn't have anything to do
with us."
Two officials told CNN
Trump will not call for Mueller's firing, and Sanders said there is "no
intention or plan to make any changes in regards to the special
counsel."
Clinton has no comment on the charges, a spokesman told CNN.
Manafort,
whose work for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has
attracted scrutiny from federal investigators, has previously denied
financial wrongdoing regarding his Ukraine-related payments, his bank
accounts in offshore tax shelters and his various real-estate
transactions over the years. Gates, who has also denied wrongdoing, was
Manafort's longtime business associate in his lobbying firm before being
tapped as his deputy on the Trump campaign.
Manafort's Ukraine work scrutinized
Before the indictment, the FBI in July executed a so-called no-knock search warrant
with guns drawn at Manafort's home in Alexandria, Virginia, seizing
financial and tax documents, including some that had already been
provided to congressional investigators.
Federal
investigators' interest in Manafort and Gates goes back well before the
special counsel was appointed. For about a decade, Manafort worked for
Yanukovych and his Russia-friendly Party of Regions. Manafort's work
spurred a separate federal investigation in 2014, which examined whether
he and other Washington-based lobbying firms failed to register as
foreign agents for the Yanukovych regime.
Gates
joined Manafort's lobbying firm in the mid-2000s and handled projects
in Eastern Europe, which later included work for Yanukovych.
Yanukovych
was ousted amid street protests in 2014, and his pro-Russian Party of
Regions was accused of corruption and laundering millions of dollars out
of Ukraine. The FBI sought to learn whether those who worked for
Yanukovych — Manafort's firm, as well as Washington lobbying firms
Mercury LLC and the Podesta Group — played a role. The Podesta Group is
headed by Tony Podesta, the brother of John Podesta, a former chief of
staff of the Clinton White House, a senior adviser to President Barack
Obama and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman.
Two sources told CNN on Monday afternoon that Tony Podesta is leaving the group amid the Mueller investigation.
Manafort
was previously investigated for failing to register as a foreign agent
for the Ukraine work, and the FBI secured approval from the court that
handles the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to monitor Manafort's
communications. The surveillance lapsed in 2016 but was restarted as
part of the FBI-led Russia investigation after Manafort left the
campaign.
The investigation into
Manafort intensified after Mueller was named as special counsel in May.
Mueller has hired a team of prosecutors who have examined Manafort's
financial and tax history stretching back 11 years to January 2006, while he was working in Ukraine.
Running the Trump campaign
Manafort
joined the Trump campaign in March 2016 to help with delegate counting
ahead of the Republican National Convention, as some Republicans hoped
to use arcane delegate procedures to wrest the nomination from Trump at
the convention in Cleveland.
He
soon was promoted to campaign chairman, and he became the top official
on the campaign after then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was fired
in June 2016.
His tenure didn't last long.
The Times reported
in August 2016 that Ukrainian investigators found Manafort's name in an
off-the-books, handwritten ledger detailing secret payments — including
$12.7 million to Manafort from Yanukovych's Party of Regions.
Manafort denied he had received any such payment and claims the ledger was forged. But just days later, he resigned from the campaign as the accusations swirling around him became a major distraction for Trump.
Gates rose and fell with Manafort
When Manafort joined the Trump campaign, he brought Gates on board shortly thereafter.
As
Manafort rose in the ranks, so did Gates, who took on a more prominent
role after Lewandowski was fired. But his stock rose and fell with his
business partner -- after Manafort resigned in August 2016 amid
questions about his Ukraine dealings, Gates' role was diminished, and he
later left the campaign.
Questions about Gates' work in Ukraine continued to dog him even after Trump was inaugurated.
Gates
was a founding member of America First Policies, a pro-Trump advocacy
group, but stepped down after about two months. He was forced to leave
amid another round of blistering headlines about Manafort, his longtime
business partner and political ally, CNN reported at the time.
Gates
has denied any allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and
Russia, telling the Times in June that they were "totally ridiculous and
without merit."
Gates, according to a source, accompanied Trump ally Tom Barrack to the White House several times this year.
Focus of multiple investigations
Manafort's web of connections to Russia has continued to expand as the investigations have moved forward.
In
July, new reports revealed that Manafort was part of a June 2016
meeting organized by Donald Trump Jr. with a Russian lawyer who had
connections to the Kremlin.
In
September, The Washington Post reported that Manafort had offered to
provide private briefings on the campaign to Oleg Deripaska, a close
ally of Putin.
Manafort
has denied that he ever "knowingly" communicated with Russian
intelligence operatives during the election or participated in any
Russian efforts to "undermine the interests of the United States."
This story is breaking and will be updated.
CORRECTION:
This story has been updated to reflect that John Podesta was a chief of
staff in the Clinton administration and Hillary Clinton's campaign
chairman.
