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posted by takyon on Monday October 30 2017, @07:55PM   Printer-friendly
from the "I-didn't-even-know-the-guy" dept.

Manafort and Gates, were charged with "conspiracy against the United States," "conspiracy to launder money" and other offenses. The two were expected in court in Washington by the afternoon.

The Justice Department indictment on Manafort and Gates contains 12 counts: "conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading FARA statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts."

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI.

The Manafort and Gates indictment unsealed on Monday morning does not make any reference to Russia's influence campaign against the presidential election, but it does allege extensive financial ties between Manafort and Gates and powerful Ukrainians.

The Papadopoulos materials, on the other hand, detail the many contacts investigators say he had with Russian-linked operatives. He met at least two people, a man and a woman, who the FBI says were working for the Russian government and had boasted to him about the help it could offer the Trump campaign against Clinton.


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2Original Submission #3

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Hartree on Tuesday October 31 2017, @07:31PM

    by Hartree (195) on Tuesday October 31 2017, @07:31PM (#590173)

    I don't discount it. Of course the Russians are influencing the politics of countries all over the world. So is the US. In some cases it can tip the balance.

    My point was that it was unlikely that it was the deciding factor in last year's US election. However, it is sometimes held up as the "reason" for it, and I feel it's being used as an excuse for the failure of many mainstream US political analysts and politicians to understand what was happening and manage campaigns effectively.

    Thus, I rather minimized the importance of Russian influence on Twitter and more generally as I don't think it had a decisive impact.

    This is a very different matter. These are US political consultants who are accused (Manafort and Gates) or who admitted (Papdopoulos) breaking specific US laws (lying to the FBI for example). That's not a gray area or of low importance. That's something you send people to jail for. And it doesn't matter if it was effective or not, it was still illegal.

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