U.S. Gov’t Announces Friday Federal Charges Against Associate; Trump & W.H Panic

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President Donald Trump’s “witch hunt” keeps turning up more witches. This Friday, a former associate of Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort faces allegations of illegal lobbying for foreign interests in the United States. Sam Patten was charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act as part of his work for a Ukrainian political party.

The case stems from the work of Special Counsel for the Russia investigation Robert Mueller, whose team reportedly referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia.

At present, Patten’s website says that he’s “worked for multiple political parties and office-holders in Ukraine, exceeding expectations in each instance,” adding that further information may be obtained by contacting him directly. Elsewhere though, it’s available that he supported Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko in his 2015 re-election campaign, which he got involved with thanks to Serhiy Lyovochkin, the former chief of staff of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych — who Manafort notably worked for.

Patten has been in news reports about the Russia probe in the past thanks at least in part to his relationship with Konstantin Kilimnik, who’s suspected of maintaining ties to Russian intelligence services. He’s faced his own charges as part of the Mueller probe; the special counsel’s team alleged earlier this year that he’d worked with Manafort on attempted witness tampering. Manafort landed in jail because of those charges — Kilimnik, though, remains outside the U.S.

Bloomberg identifies a “Russian national” alleged by the U.S. government to have worked with Patten since 2014 on lobbying and consulting services — that individual may very well be Kilimnik. The two of them founded a company together in 2015 called Begemot Ventures International that provided messaging work for a previously unspecified list of clients.

Speaking to a reporter with The Atlantic at one point, Patten declared:

‘It would be poor business to talk about our clients, but I can tell you declaratively that none of the clients have involvement in the particular circus in the U.S. that seems to have become a news industry in and of itself.’

Apparently he was wrong. The supposed “circus” has now drawn him in.

Patten’s work in Ukraine lined up with Manafort’s. The former Trump campaign manager was recently declared guilty on eight counts of fraud and faces a second trial in D.C. in September focusing on allegations like his failure to register as a foreign agent in the U.S.

Unlike Manafort, Patten — who will be appearing in federal court Friday morning before the same judge handling Manafort’s D.C. case — seemed in early Friday filings to be preparing to plead guilty. Bloomberg notes that the “criminal information” that the government filed on his case “often precedes a guilty plea.”

Manafort has reportedly tried to plead guilty ahead of his D.C. trial, but to no avail. Whatever direction Patten’s case takes, he has, in the past, asserted his dismay at the Russia probe.

For instance, in addition to the circus comment, he said, speaking of Kilimnik:

‘The barrage of shade and innuendo that has been cast on him since Manafort had his time in Trump Tower has not been something he’d welcomed, nor anything that could objectively be called fair.’

No number of allegations of unfairness will erase criminal charges, though. The allegations Patten is facing carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

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