Yahoo News Roger Stone to Michael Cohen: the men in Trump's orbit implicated in crimes
Roger Stone, Donald Trump’s longtime adviser, was convicted on Friday of obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
The verdict makes Stone only the latest among a growing list of people once in the president’s inner circle who have been convicted on federal charges. Below is a list of others in Trump’s orbit – or that of his associates – implicated in federal crimes.
Michael Cohen
The president’s former lawyer and fixer, Cohen pleaded guilty to bank fraud, tax fraud, and campaign violations involving hush-money payouts to two women – the adult film star Stormy Daniels, and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Cohen was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison.
Paul Manafort
The once powerful lobbyist who worked as Trump’s campaign chairman was convicted in August 2018 of bank fraud, tax fraud and failing to disclose foreign bank accounts. The next month, Manafort admitted to conspiracy, such as money laundering and unregistered lobbying, as well as a second conspiracy count involving witness tampering. Manafort, who will spend about seven and a half years in prison for the federal cases, also faces state criminal charges in New York for alleged fraud and conspiracy.
Michael Flynn
Trump’s former national security adviser pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI over his communication with Russia amid the presidential transition in 2016. Flynn lied about his contact with Russia’s ambassador, such as urging Russia not to react to sanctions placed by Barack Obama.
Rick Gates
Manafort’s business partner pleaded guilty in February 2018 to conspiring to defraud the US and lying to the FBI. He also admitted to helping Manafort manipulate financial documents, conceal foreign income, cheat tax authorities and mislead banks for credit. Gates, who was also a Trump campaign official, brokered a deal with Robert Mueller – serving as a star witness against Manafort and Stone.
George Papadopoulos
In 2017, Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the schedules of meetings with purported Russian intermediaries. Papadopoulos in March 2016 met with a Maltese professor in London, who claimed that the Russians had incriminating information on Trump’s then rival, Hillary Clinton – “thousands of emails”. Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14 days in prison.
Alex van der Zwaan
A Dutch lawyer who worked with Manafort, Van der Zwaan pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his communications with Gates and a person potentially linked to Russian intelligence. Van der Zwaan worked on a Manafort-commissioned report to defend ex-Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych from international scrutiny. He was incarcerated for 12 days.
Richard Pinedo
The online fraudster pleaded guilty after it was revealed that his business setting up US bank accounts, and then illegally peddling them over the internet, had enabled a Russian operation that utilized social media to meddle with the election. His cooperation enabled Mueller’s pursuit of Russian troll farms.
Konstantin Kilimnik
The Russian political operative and Manafort associate is charged with obstructing justice. He was swept up in Manafort’s plan to leverage his relationship with Trump to settle multimillion-dollar debts to an oligarch.
Sam Patten
Lobbyist Patten had ties to Kilimnik. He admitted to diverting $50,000 from a Ukrainian oligarch to Trump’s presidential inauguration committee. He pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with Mueller.
