Welcome to Manafort Monday - the Key Points from the Full Indictment

 And what a glorious Monday it is. We've read through the full indictment to give you the highlights from Mr. Mueller himself. Below, you'll see the most important revelations found in the indictment, as well as the 12 counts Paul Manafort and Rick Gates are being charged with. 

HIGHLIGHTS: 

  • Between 2006 and 2015, Manafort and Gates acted as unregistered agents of the Government of Ukraine on behalf of President Victor Yanukovych
  • They organized funding for the Party of Regions – a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine run by Yanukovych.
  • This resulted in tens of millions of dollars being paid to them, which they laundered through U.S. and foreign corporations and bank accounts.
  • In 2016 US government inquired about their work on behalf of Ukraine, to which Manafort and Gates sent in false statements
  • They did not pay taxes on their hidden income, living lavishly using their offshore accounts
  • More than $75 million flowed through offshore accounts
  • Manafort personally laundered more than $18 million
  • Gates transferred more than $3 million to his personal accounts
  • Davis Manafort Partners INC (Manafort's political consulting firm) – has staff in U.S., Ukraine, and Russia
  • It is illegal to act as an agent of a foreign principal engaged in US influence activities without registering the affiliation, which Manafort and Gates did not.
  • Manafort worked closely and personally with Yanukovych and lobbied members of Congress about Ukrainian sanctions, elections, and the fact that Yanukovych imprisoned his presidential rival
  • Manafort and Gates used offshore money to sanction a report on Yanukovych’s presidential rival
  • In august, 2016, gates blatantly lied and said, “at no time did our firm or members provide any direct lobbying support” for the Ukrainian government

12 Counts of Indictment

Count 1: conspiracy against the US, “Manafort and Gates, together with others, knowingly and intentionally conspired to defraud the U.S. by impeding, impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful governmental functions of a government agency, namely the Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury, and to commit offenses against the U.S."

Count 2: conspiracy to launder money

Counts 3-6: failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts for calendar years 2011-2014

Counts 7-9: failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts for calendar years 2011-2013

Count 10: unregistered agent of a foreign principal

Count 11: false and misleading FARA statements (Foreign Agents Registration Act) - namely, not disclosing their relationship and representation of the Ukrainian government

Count 12: false statements

 

Greer Clem