After Donald Trump, businessman and television personality became the 45th president of the United States of America in November 2016, allegations were made that he had colluded with the Russian government to win the election. Author Jean Robert Revolus’s latest book, US Election 2016 NO COLLUSION?978-1-95-163003-4 presents readers with all the vital information about the 2016 Election, the allegations made against Trump, the investigations and their findings, and all the names of businessmen, politicians, and lawyers involved. As the allegations of Russians meddling in the elections came to light, the FBI launched an investigation that was led by the special counsel and former director of FBI, Robert Mueller. The Special Counsel investigation ran its course from May 2017 to March 2019 and the findings, The Mueller Report, were eventually released to the public after important information was redacted from the document.
As a result of the investigation, several of Trump’s associates were charged with different crimes. Frontline PBS discusses two of the well-known associates, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, as well as their charges, in the following texts.
In October, Mueller brought charges against Trump’s onetime campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and his former business partner, Rick Gates, on counts related to money laundering, tax evasion, and foreign lobbying. Prosecutors alleged that Manafort laundered more than $18 million from the income he made while lobbying for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine. Manafort put the proceeds in overseas accounts and “used his hidden overseas wealth to enjoy a lavish lifestyle in the United States, without paying taxes on that income,” according to the indictment. Prosecutors also charged Manafort and Gates for failing to register as foreign agents while participating in lobbying activities.
Manafort, who along with Gates pleaded not guilty, challenged his indictment in a federal lawsuit against Mueller, the Justice Department, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for prosecuting him for business practices that his attorneys called unrelated to Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling. The lawsuit called Mueller’s investigation of Manafort “arbitrary” and capricious” and alleged that Mueller has exceeded his jurisdiction.
On February 22, Mueller filed a new 32-count against Manafort and Gates on charges that included bank fraud and filing false tax returns. The next day, Gates, who had pleaded not guilty to Mueller’s original charges, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States and to lying to the FBI about a March 2013 meeting between Manafort and an unnamed member of congress. According to court documents, Gates falsely told investigators that Manafort told him that Ukraine had not been discussed at the meeting, when in fact Gates later worked with Manafort to prepare a report for Ukraine’s leadership on “the pertinent Ukraine discussions that Manafort represented had taken place at the meeting.”
On June 8, Mueller also charged Manafort, along with his business associate Konstantin V. Kilimnik, with obstruction of justice for attempting to influence witnesses involved in the proceedings against him.
On August 21, Manafort was convicted on counts of bank and tax fraud. He was scheduled to face another criminal trial on other charges from Mueller’s team, including obstruction of justice and failure to register as a foreign agent. But on September 14, Manafort pleaded guilty to two conspiracy charges as part of a plea deal.
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