In a new turn of events, President Trump's former adviser and longtime consultant pleaded guilty to financial fraud and lying to investigators. He has agreed to cooperate with the special counsel inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. This is after a plea bargain for a lighter punishment as he currently faces up to six years in prison.
The charges
The deal came as the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller, has been raising pressure on Mr. Gates and Mr. Manafort with charges of money laundering and bank fraud unsealed on Thursday.
Others under investigation are:
George Papadopoulos, a former member of the foreign policy advisory panel to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. He was charged and admitted guilt to charges of lying to the F.B.I. about conversations with people he believed were working on behalf of Russians
Michael T Flynn, former National Security Advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump. He was charged with lying to the F.B.I. about the conversations with the Russian ambassador to which he admitted guilt.
Richard Pinedo, a Californian who ran an online service called Auction Essistance, through which he bought and sold bank account numbers that would help users circumvent security measures of digital payment companies.
He was charged with identity fraud and faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the plea agreement. It said he has no criminal history and that he agrees to cooperate with Mueller’s office.
Alex van der Zwaan, an attorney, formerly with the London branch of New York-based international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
He was charged with lying to the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators about his interactions with political consultant and lobbyist Rick Gates and an unidentified Ukrainian-based long-term associate of Paul Manafort. He pleaded guilty soon after.
Paul Manafort. He is under investigation by multiple federal agencies.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reportedly had an active criminal investigation on him since 2014 regarding business dealings while he was lobbying for Yanukovich. He is also a person of interest in the FBI counterintelligence probe looking into the Russian government's interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Thirteen Russian nationals who are also indicted for conspiracy to defraud the US. None of the defendants were arrested, as Russia rarely extradites its citizens to the United States to face legal proceedings.
Special counsel Robert Mueller has encouraged all of them to cooperate with his probe, which is seeking to determine if the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin during the 2016 election. Manafort has so far not indicated that he will comply, but Gates has agreed to cooperate
