Mueller files 32 new charges against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates

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February 22, 2018 10:01 PM

Special counsel Robert Mueller is ratcheting up pressure on Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman.

Special counsel Robert Mueller filed 32 new charges related to bank and tax fraud against former Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort and Rick Gates.
Manafort, the former campaign chairman, and Gates, Manafort's deputy and longtime associate, have so far resisted Mueller's attempts to flip them in the Russia investigation.
Thursday's charges, coupled with a Manafort-linked Russian lawyer's guilty plea on Tuesday, will likely put further pressure on both Manafort and Gates to become cooperating witnesses.

Special counsel Robert Mueller on Thursday filed 32 new charges against two former officials on President Donald Trump's campaign.

Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman, and Rick Gates, Manafort's deputy and longtime associate, were accused in a superseding indictment of misconduct related to tax and bank fraud. Specifically, the two men were charged with failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts; subscribing to false US individual income tax returns; subscribing to a false amended US individual income tax return; and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

The indictment alleges that more than $75,000,000 flowed through the defendants' offshore accounts and that Manafort laundered over $30,000,000 in undisclosed income with Gates's assistance.

Manafort and Gates were first indicted in October on 12 counts related to money laundering, tax fraud, conspiracy against the US, and failure to register as foreign agents. Thursday's indictment essentially replaces last year's charges against the defendants.

Tymoshenko was jailed in 2011 after the Ukrainian government convicted her of abuse of power. Her trial and subsequent conviction were criticized by human-rights groups and deemed politically motivated by the US, the UK, German, Italy, Spain, and other European countries.

Skadden was roped into the controversy over the Tymoshenko report when it emerged that the former Ukrainian Justice Minister Oleksandr Lavrynovych embezzled over $1 million to pay the law firm for its work.

After facing mounting pressure from American and Ukrainian prosecutors, Skadden refunded about half the amount it was paid for the Tymoshenko report to the Ukrainian government in June 2017. Three months later, in September, Mueller's office raised more questions to Skadden about its work for Yanukovych in 2012.

The next month, the special counsel charged both Manafort and Gates with the first 12 counts related to their business dealings and work for the Ukrainian government. Among other things, the indictment accused the two men of using an offshore account to illegally funnel $4 million to pay for the Tymoshenko report.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.

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