Alex van der Zwaan, a Russia-linked lawyer, is expected to be the fourth person to cut a plea deal with Mueller, after being charged with lying to investigators in the Russia probe. Van der Zwaan’s father-in-law is a Russian oligarch, German Khan, a co-founder of a group that owns Alfa Bank.
Alex could plead guilty Tuesday afternoon at his appearance in federal court.
From NBC News:
“Alex van der Zwaan was charged with making false statements about his communications with former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates, according to a court document obtained by NBC News.“
The charging documents state that Van der Zwaan lied about the dates and nature of his last communications with Rick Gates, a former deputy to Paul Manafort, and also communications with a person currently known only as “Person A.” He also may have deleted an email to keep it from the Special Counsel’s office.
Van der Zwaan’s former employer, Skadden Arps fired him last year and had cooperated with Mueller.
New York Times journalist, Kenneth Vogel, noted that Van der Zwaan and other attorneys at Skadden commissioned by Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, to create a report, which has been criticized as a justification to imprison Ukraine’s former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko.
The atty who was charged by MUELLER today, Alex Van Der Zwaan, was 1 of 8 @SkaddenArps attys involved in writing a report commissioned by MANAFORT that whitewashed YANUKOVYCH's record, according to Ukrainian prosecutors. Full story TK, but here's context: https://t.co/G0pOat1Zaq
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) February 20, 2018
Manafort and his fellow indicted associate, Rick Gates, worked for Tymoshenko’s rival, disgraced ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, who had close ties to Vladimir Putin and was ousted twice from Ukraine’s presidency after “giant street protests.”
Manafort and Gates allegedly laundered tens of millions dollars while working to help keep Yanukovych in power in Ukraine. Their efforts failed. The ousted president sought sanctuary in Russia and is on trial in absentia in Ukraine.
German Khan was mentioned in the dossier, as one of the owners of Alfa. The head of Alfa bank sued BuzzFeed for publishing the Steele Dossier.
From Newsweek in May 2017:
“The dossier contains allegations that that Fridman, Aven and Khan—who together own about three quarters of Alfa—attempted to bribe Vladimir Putin, now Russia’s president, when he served as deputy mayor of St Petersburg in the 1990s, as well as allegations that they were involved in the alleged Russian attempt to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.”
Congressman Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) shared his insight into the latest charge in the Russia probe:
“Expected guilty plea by Alex Van Der Zwaan tells us at least 3 things:
-Mueller knows a lot that we don’t know
-Mueller will indict for lying to @FBI (should scare any Trump official who was interviewed)
-Basically locks in that Gates will plea, which pressures Manafort to flip”
Expected guilty plea by Alex Van Der Zwaan tells us at least 3 things:
-Mueller knows a lot that we don't know
-Mueller will indict for lying to @FBI (should scare any Trump official who was interviewed)
-Basically locks in that Gates will plea, which pressures Manafort to flip https://t.co/LbB3tuucWI— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) February 20, 2018
If Alex van der Zwaan joins Rick Gates in making a plea deal, they could both flip on Paul Manafort, which in turn could create sufficient pressure for him to flip on Trump.
Special Counsel Mueller’s latest charge indicates he is following the money way back at the beginning, following wherever it will lead up to the 2016 presidential election. Stay tuned, because it looks like much more is coming in the Russia probe.
For more, see the video from MSNBC below:
Featured image: Screenshot via YouTube.
