The probe into Russian interference in the 2016 elections produced another indictment on Tuesday, as the feds charged a man with making false statements to investigators working with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, also accusing the lawyer of deleting emails, and not cooperating with the probe.
The initial document released by a Washington, D.C. federal court showed Alex Van Der Zwaan lied about his interactions with Rick Gates, who has already been indicted by Mueller’s office.
Gates, who once worked on President Donald Trump’s campaign, already faces charges of a money laundering conspiracy, and failure to file as a foreign agent.
Even though there were only two pages of information released on Tuesday morning, the details of the indictment raised a series of interesting items.
+ Van Der Zwaan was accused of secretly recording phone calls before the 2016 elections:
A lawyer charged with lying to FBI agents in the special counsel investigation secretly recorded telephone calls with ex-Trump aide Rick Gates and another person in September 2016. pic.twitter.com/29oiGF68I0
— Brad Heath (@bradheath) February 20, 2018
+ The mention of Rick Gates comes as Gates has reportedly been in discussions with the Special Counsel’s office about a plea bargain agreement.
+ This new indictment includes references to a “Person A” and a “Law Firm A.”
The latest indictment came as the President again took to Twitter to talk about the Russia investigation.
Back at the White House after a long weekend in Florida, Mr. Trump on Tuesday once more suggested that the Russia investigation was mainly sour grapes about his defeat of Hillary Clinton in 2016:
I have been much tougher on Russia than Obama, just look at the facts. Total Fake News!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2018
“There is no serious person out there who would suggest somehow that you could even rig America’s elections, there’s no evidence that that has happened in the past or that it will happen this time, and so I’d invite Mr. Trump to stop whining and make his case to get votes.” .....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2018
....The President Obama quote just before election. That’s because he thought Crooked Hillary was going to win and he didn’t want to “rock the boat.” When I easily won the Electoral College, the whole game changed and the Russian excuse became the narrative of the Dems.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2018
The New York Times had reported last September that the Skadden law firm in New York had been asked to produce information to the Mueller investigation.
Reportedly at the urging of former Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort, the firm had helped put together a report on the political situation in Ukraine, which was used to help the country’s Moscow-backed leader.
KIRO