Everyone Charged in Robert Mueller’s Russia Investigation

From Esquire

Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has led to the indictments of 31 people and three companies - that we know of so far.

Mueller, who was appointed special counsel of the investigation on May 17, 2017, was authorized to investigate "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation," according to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s order. The probe, approved by former FBI Director James B. Comey, investigates whether there were "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump."

Below is a full list of who has been charged, what the charges are, and how they have responded to those charges. It will be updated if and when necessary.

Paul Manafort

Role: Trump campaign manager from June to August 2016.

Date charges were filed: Charges were originally filed on October 27, 2017, but a superseding indictment with new charges adding to and replacing some of the original charges was filed on February 22, 2018.

Charges: 18 counts of the total 32 counts in the February 2018 superseding indictment, including five counts of subscribing to false U.S. income tax returns from 2010 to 2014, four counts of failing to file reports of foreign accounts from 2011 to 2014, five counts of bank fraud conspiracy, and four counts of bank fraud.

What it means: In the February superseding indictment, Manafort and Gates were accused of tax, financial, and bank fraud. They allegedly "hid the existence and ownership of the foreign companies and bank accounts" that contained over $75 million and laundered more than $30 million in income, CNN reports. Manafort and Gates allegedly used some of the money from these illegal dealings to buy real estate in the U.S., pay for home improvement, refinance their mortgages, and purchase luxury goods.

Plea: Not guilty to all counts. A trial is set for September 17, 2018.

Richard “Rick” Gates

Role: Paul Manafort’s former business partner. Duties for the Trump campaign included wrangling GOP convention delegates and arranging the inaugural ceremony, ABC News reports.

Date charges were filed: Charges were originally filed on October 27, 2017, but a superseding indictment with some new charges adding to and replacing some of the original charges was filed on February 22, 2018.

Charges: 23 counts of the total 32 counts in the February 2018 superseding indictment, including five counts of assisting in the preparation of false U.S. income tax returns from 2010 to 2014, five counts of subscribing to false U.S. income tax returns from 2010 to 2014, one count of subscribing to false amended U.S. income tax returns in 2013, three counts of failing to file reports of foreign accounts from 2011 to 2013, five counts of bank fraud conspiracy, and four counts of bank fraud.

What it means: In the February superseding indictment, Manafort and Gates were accused of tax, financial, and bank fraud. They allegedly "hid the existence and ownership of the foreign companies and bank accounts" that contained over $75 million and laundered more than $30 million in income, CNN reports. Manafort and Gates allegedly used some of the money from these illegal dealings to buy real estate in the U.S., pay for home improvement, refinance their mortgages, and purchase luxury goods. Gates also allegedly used the money to pay for his children's tuition.

Plea: Not guilty to all counts on October 30, 2017. Guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of false statements on February 23, 2018.

George Papadopoulos

Role: Foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign. He served for a total of 11 months.

Date charges were filed: October 5, 2017

Charges: One count of making false statements and omissions to the FBI, according to a statement of the offense.

What it means: Papadopoulos was accused of lying to the FBI during an investigative interview that took place on January 27. Papadopoulos allegedly made untruthful claims about a time he met with an unnamed overseas professor with substantial ties to the Russian government. Papadopoulos initially said he met the professor before he began working for the Trump campaign, but later admitted he was contacted because he worked for the Trump campaign. He also downplayed his interactions with a female Russian national described by Papadopoulos in an email to members of the campaign as "Putin's niece."

Plea: Guilty of making false statements to the FBI on October 5, 2017.

Part of his statement: “The preceding statement is a summary, made for the purpose of providing the court with a factual basis for my guilty plea to the charge against me. It does not include all of the facts known to me regarding this offense. I make this statement knowingly and voluntarily and because I am, in fact, guilty of the crime charged.”

Michael Flynn

Role: Trump's former national security adviser.

Date charges were filed: November 30, 2017

Charges: One count of making false statements.

What it means: According to CNN, Mueller charged Flynn with "willfully and knowingly" making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the FBI regarding conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn resigned from the Trump administration in February after reports that he'd misled Vice President Mike Pence about his communication with Kislyak. He is the first former Trump administration official to be charged in relation to special counsel Mueller's Russia investigation.

Here is a readout of the charges:

Plea: Guilty of making false statements to the FBI on December 1, 2017.

Alex Van Der Zwaan

Role: Attorney who was an associate of former Trump adviser Rick Gates.

Date charges were filed: February 16, 2018

Charges: One count of making false statements to the FBI.

What it means: Van Der Zwaan is accused of lying to the FBI about his interactions with Rick Gates, a Trump adviser, and former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort, CNBC reports. Van der Zwaan worked at the law firm Skadden, Arps, which Manafort allegedly hired in 2011 to prepare a report that would defend the incarceration of a political opponents of Ukraine's then-President Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych was Manfort's client.

As noted by Bloomberg, the indictment also alleges that Van Der Zwaan lied about his communication with an unnamed person referred to as "Person A," and that he deleted and failed to turn over emails to investigators.

Plea: Guilty of lying to the FBI about his interactions with Rick Gates.

13 Russian Nationals and 3 Russian Entities

Role: Russian nationals and entities allegedly working with the Trump administration during the 2016 U.S. election.

The 13 nationals charged are Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, Mikhail Ivanovich Bystrov, Mikhail Leonidovich Burchik, Aleksandra Yuryevna Krylova, Anna Vladislavovna Bogacheva, Sergey Pavlovich Polozov, Maria Anatolyrvna Bovda, Robert Sergetevich Bovda, Dzheykhun Nasimi Ogly, Vadim Vladimirovich Podkopaev, Gleb Igorevich Vasilchenko, Irina Viktorovna Kaverzina, and Vladimir Venkov.

The three Russian entities charged are Internet Research Agency LLC, Concord Management and Consulting LLC and Concord Catering.

Date charges were filed: February 16, 2018

Charges: All defendants were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States. Three defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and five defendants were charged with aggravated identity theft.

What it means: According to CNN, the indictment states that the defendants allegedly created false U.S. identities in order to pose as American individuals and operate social media pages and groups on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter designed to attract U.S. audiences. The indictment reportedly also claims that The Internet Research Agency had a "strategic goal to sow discord in the US political system," including the election. The defendants allegedly spread information "supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump ... and disparaging Hillary Clinton."

Here is a screenshot of the indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice, which includes some of the political advertisements:

Plea: Not yet determined, but a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry said the allegations are "absurd." "13 people interfered in the U.S. elections?! 13 against an intelligence services budget of billions? Against intelligence and counterintelligence, against the latest developments and technologies? Absurd? Yes," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a Facebook post Friday.

Richard Pinedo

Role: California man who allegedly sold bank accounts to Russian agents.

Date charges were filed: February 7, 2018

Charges: One count of identity fraud.

What it means: Pinedo managed an online service called Auction Essistance, which he allegedly used to buy and sell bank account numbers that would help users bypass security measures of digital payment companies, Newsweek reports. Pinedo also allegedly transferred, possessed and used the identities of other people in connection with unlawful activity.

According to ABC News, Pinedo's attorney, Jeremy Lessem, said his client "was shocked to find out that what he was doing had any relationship whatsoever" to the Mueller investigation. "This is something that is way beyond anything he could have possibly imagined he could be involved in," Lessem said, adding that Pinedo "has made mistakes, he's taken responsibility for those mistakes, he pled guilty, and he will be punished for those mistakes he made. But he had nothing to do with assisting any type of foreign national at all."

Plea: Guilty of creating false identities on February 12, 2018. He faces up to 12-to-18 months in prison and a fine ranging from $5,500 to $55,000, according to his plea deal agreement.

12 Russian Intelligence Officers

Role: The people who hacked into the Clinton campaign's emails and released the stolen documents.

Date charges were filed: July 13, 2018

Charges: One count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States.

What it means: The defendants worked together to hack into the computers of volunteers and employees of Hillary Clinton's campaign. They stole documents from their computers and released tens of thousands of stolen emails and documents to interfere with the election. They used fake personas like DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0. The defendants are Viktor Borisovich Netyksho, Boris Alekseyevich Antonov, Dmitriy Sergeyevich Badin, Ivan Sergeyevich Yermakov, Aleksey Vikorovich Lukashev, Sergey Aleksandrovich Morgachev, Nikolay Yuryevich Kozachek, Pavel Vyacheslavovich Yershov, Artem Andreyevich Malyshev, Aleksandr Vladamirovich Osadchuk, and Aleksey Aleksandrovich Potemkin.

Plea: Not yet determined.

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