The Special Counsel investigation was a United States law enforcement and counterintelligence investigation of the Russian government's efforts to interfere in United States politics and any possible involvement by members of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. It was primarily focused on the 2016 presidential election.
The Special Counsel initiated criminal proceedings against 34 people—seven U.S. nationals, 26 Russian nationals, and one Dutch national—and three Russian organizations. The charges were brought in three different jurisdictions: the District of Columbia (D.D.C.), the Eastern District of Virginia (E.D. Va.), and the Southern District of New York (S.D.N.Y.). Several cases were also referred to other prosecutors, resulting in charges against two individuals. The Special Counsel indictments have resulted in convictions, plea deals, and jail time in several cases.
Table of charges Accused Date first charged Charge(s) Case status Jurisdiction+ Indictment count: false statements Pleaded guilty on . Sentenced to 14 days in prison, a $9,500 fine, 200 hours of community service and 12 months probation on . Released from prison on December 7, 2018, after serving 12 days of the 14-day sentence. Pardoned by Trump on . D.D.C.; (on wikisource) counts: conspiracy against the United States and false statements Pleaded guilty on . Sentenced to 45 days in prison, three years of probation, 300 hours of community service, and a $20,000 fine, on . D.D.C. counts: assisting in the preparation of false tax returns (×5), subscribing to false tax returns (×5), filing a false amended return, failure to report foreign bank and financial accounts (×3), bank fraud conspiracy (×5), and bank fraud (×4) Charges dismissed without prejudice on . E.D. Va. counts: conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice Pleaded guilty on . Sentenced to 73 months in prison on . Released early on , to spend the remainder of the sentence in home confinement. Pardoned by Trump on . D.D.C. counts: filing false tax returns (×5), failure to report foreign bank and financial accounts (×4), bank fraud conspiracy (×5), and bank fraud (×4) Found guilty on 8 counts, mistrial declared on 10 counts on . Sentenced to 47 months in prison on . Released early on , to spend the remainder of the sentence in home confinement. E.D. Va. count: false statements Pleaded guilty on . Charges dismissed on (Flynn had previously requested a withdrawal of his guilty plea), but reinstated on . Pardoned by Trump on . D.D.C. count: identity fraud Pleaded guilty on . Sentenced to six months in prison, followed by six months of home confinement on October 10, 2018. Released from prison on . D.D.C. count: false statements Pleaded guilty on . Sentenced to 30 days in prison and a $20,000 fine on . Released from prison on ; deported to the Netherlands on . Pardoned by Trump on . D.D.C. counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft (×6) At large outside U.S. jurisdiction D.D.C.; (on wikisource) counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, and aggravated identity theft (×6) count: conspiracy to defraud the United States Concord Management and Consulting LLC count: conspiracy to defraud the United States Pleaded not guilty on May 9, 2018. Charges dismissed with prejudice on March 16, 2020. counts: obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice At large outside U.S. jurisdiction D.D.C. counts: conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, aggravated identity theft (×8), and conspiracy to launder money D.D.C. counts: conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States (×2), aggravated identity theft (×8), and conspiracy to launder money count: conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States count: false statements Pleaded guilty on . Sentenced to 2 months in prison on . Released early on , to spend the remainder of the sentence in home confinement. S.D.N.Y. counts: obstruction of proceeding, false statements (×5), witness tampering Found guilty on all counts on . Sentenced to 40 months in federal prison, a $20,000 fine, and two years of supervised release on . Sentence commuted on . Pardoned by Trump on . D.D.C. Notes
Parties charged George Papadopoulos On October 30, 2017, it was revealed that Trump campaign foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos had pleaded guilty earlier in the month to making a false statement to FBI investigators, a felony. The guilty plea was part of a plea bargain in which he agreed to cooperate with the government and "provide information regarding any and all matters as to which the Government deems relevant."
On December 30, 2017, The New York Times reported that Papadopoulos had in May 2016 disclosed to the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Alexander Downer in Kensington Wine Rooms, a London wine bar, that the Russians possessed a large trove of stolen Hillary Clinton emails that could potentially damage her presidential campaign. Australia officials initially did not convey this information to the American counterparts but did so after WikiLeaks and DCLeaks released stolen Democratic National Committee emails in June/July 2016, which American intelligence has concluded with "high confidence" originated from Russian hackers. The hacking, and the revelation that a member of the Trump campaign apparently had inside information about it, were driving factors that led the FBI in July 2016 to open an investigation into Russia's attempts to disrupt the election and whether any of President Trump's associates conspired. The Nunes memo confirmed that the Papadopolous matter triggered the investigation—and not the Steele dossier, which some Republicans had alleged to have been the trigger. Indeed, Papadopoulos was surveilled by Stefan Halper and Jeff Wiseman, the first worked for Steele.
Papadopoulos was recruited to the Trump campaign in early March 2016. In a court document filed as part of Papadopoulos's guilty plea, prosecutors asserted that later in March while traveling in Italy he met Joseph Mifsud, a London-based academic with contacts in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mifsud showed little interest in Papadopoulos until Mifsud learned Papadopoulos was a member of the Trump campaign. Several days later, Papadopoulos met in London with Mifsud and "Olga Polonskaya", a Russian national whom Papadopoulos initially but falsely believed was Vladimir Putin's niece. Papadopoulos then emailed his Trump campaign supervisor Sam Clovis about his meetings, which he said included the Russian Ambassador, and which had been about a "meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss U.S.-Russia ties under President Trump." Clovis was non-committal but replied "Great work." In subsequent days Papadopoulos worked with Mifsud and Polonskaya to arrange contacts between the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Trump campaign. In late April 2016, Papadopoulos emailed an unnamed Trump campaign "Senior Policy Advisor," stating "The Russian government has an open invitation by Putin for Mr. Trump to meet him when he is ready." At about the same time, Mifsud told Papadopoulos that the Russian government had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails," which Papadopoulos then shared with Alexander Downer in a London bar days later. Mifsud dropped from sight after his name appeared in published reports in October 2017 and has not been heard from through May 2018. Stephan Roh, a German national who is a close associate of Mifsud, asserts he was detained, questioned and surveilled by FBI agents after he arrived on a flight to New York in 2017. The BBC reported on March 21, 2018, that Roh and another man named Ivan Timofeev were also involved in Papadopoulos's efforts to contact Russian officials.
For several weeks prior to his scheduled sentencing, his wife had been saying publicly that he might reconsider his guilty plea and its agreement to cooperate with prosecutors. On August 17, Mueller recommended to the judge that Papadopoulos be sentenced to up to 6 months in prison for lying to the FBI. The recommendation commented that "The defendant's crime was serious and caused damage to the government's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election", adding that he did not provide "substantial assistance" to the prosecution, but instead withheld information. On August 29, his wife said he has decided to stick with his plea agreement. On September 7, 2018, Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14 days in jail, plus 200 hours of community service, one year of probation and a $9,500 fine. He began serving his 14-day sentence on November 26, 2018, at FCI Oxford in Oxford, Wisconsin, and was released 12 days later on December 7, 2018.
Paul Manafort and Rick Gates
The two criminal trials of Paul Manafort are the first cases brought to trial by the special counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Manafort served as campaign chair for the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign from June 20 to August 19, 2016.
In July 2017, the FBI conducted a raid of Manafort's home, authorized by search warrant under charges of interference in the 2016 election. Manafort and his business assistant Rick Gates were both indicted and arrested in October 2017 for charges of conspiracy against the United States, making false statements, money laundering, and failing to register as foreign agents for Ukraine. Gates entered a plea bargain in February 2018.
Manafort's first trial on 18 criminal counts began on July 31, 2018. In that trial, Gates testified that he committed tax-evasion and embezzlement crimes with Manafort. Under cross examination, Gates also admitted to an extramarital relationship funded with money embezzled from Manafort. Manafort was found guilty on eight counts (covering filing false tax returns, bank fraud, and failing to disclose a foreign bank account), but a mistrial was declared on the remaining 10 counts due to a single juror harboring reasonable doubts.
During his second trial, Manafort pleaded guilty to two counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States and witness tampering. He further admitted to the remaining charges against him, agreed to forfeit several properties and accounts, and agreed to full cooperation with the prosecution. Manafort has reportedly met with prosecutors nearly a dozen times. But in November 2018 it was reported that Manafort is not being as forthcoming as FBI investigators want and that they are "not getting what they want" from him. The reported breakdown in cooperation followed the firing of Jeff Sessions as attorney general and the appointment of Matthew Whittaker, a critic of the Mueller investigation, as acting attorney general.
Mueller's office stated in a November 26, 2018, court filing that Manafort had repeatedly lied about a variety of matters, breaching the terms of his plea agreement. Manafort's attorneys disputed the assertion. Both sides agreed they were at an impasse and asked Judge Amy Berman Jackson to set a sentencing date for Manafort's trial convictions and guilty pleas.