Special counsel Robert Mueller has slapped former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and a longtime associate, Russian citizen Konstantin Kilimnik, with a new indictment, unsealed Friday, for witness tampering. CNN writes:
The indictment includes two new charges against both Manafort and Kilimnik: a count of obstruction of justice and a count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, meaning the two allegedly worked together to tamper with witnesses.
Kilimnik, 48, of Moscow, is the 20th person to face charges in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. So far, 20 people and three companies have been charged.
Manafort has already been charged with conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading Foreign Agents Registration Act statements and false statements. Friday's indictment does not change the counts already against him.
Notably, Kilimnik is a Russian-Ukrainian operative suspected of maintaining ties to the Russian intelligence service, the GRU. Manafort and Kilimnik reportedly tried to convince two associates to lie about the scope of their lobbying efforts for Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s former pro-Russian president.
But prosecutors allege that Mr. Manafort and Mr. Kilimnik contacted the associates starting in February to urge them to tell investigators that the Hapsburg group’s efforts only consisted of outreach in Europe and not in the United States. That is significant because any lobbying or public relations in the United States on behalf of foreign politicians, governments or companies would trigger an obligation under the Foreign Agents Registration Act to disclose those activities to the Department of Justice.
Friday, Jun 8, 2018 · 7:08:25 PM +00:00 · Kerry Eleveld
UPDATE: Here’s some NYT background on how Kilimnik eluded the Mueller probe, apparently as part of a deal for Ukraine to get anti-tank missiles from the Trump administration.
In another move seeming to hinder Mr. Mueller’s investigation, Ukrainian law enforcement allowed a potential witness to possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to leave for Russia, putting him out of reach for questioning.
The special counsel’s office has identified the man, Konstantin V. Kilimnik, Mr. Manafort’s former office manager in Kiev, as tied to a Russian intelligence agency. Mr. Kilimnik was also under investigation in Ukraine over espionage, but no charges were filed before he left the country, sometime after June. During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Kilimnik met twice with Mr. Manafort. In December, a court filing in the United States said Mr. Kilimnik was “currently based in Russia.”