Another Patten Status Report Under Seal

News  |  Feb 12, 2019

UPDATE (2-13-19): Bloomberg Politics:

Sam Patten, who pleaded guilty to failing to register in the U.S. as a Ukrainian agent, will be sentenced on April 12, according to U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson.

Sam Patten Sentencing Date Set for April 12 in Washington (Bloomberg Politics)


Once again, prosecutors asked for – and were granted – the right to submit a status report under seal in the case against Sam Patten, a DC lobbyist allied with Paul Manafort who used a straw man to funnel $50,000 of foreign money to the Trump inaugural committee and pleaded guilty to operating as an unregistered foreign agent.

Prosecutors submitted the last status report on Patten's case at the end of December. That, too, was under seal. 

The Hill

The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C. and Patten’s defense attorneys were due to file a status report in his case on Monday — filings that sometimes contain details about the extent of a defendant’s cooperation with the government.

However, federal prosecutors asked Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is overseeing Patten’s case, to file the status report under seal. Jackson granted the request.

“The United States of America, by and through its attorney, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, respectfully submits this notice of filing of the government’s Motion for Leave to File the Joint Status Report dated February 11, 2019 Under Seal and the Joint Status Report in the above-captioned case,” the filing states.

(...)

Monday’s filing is a possible indication that the government wants to keep any details of Patten’s cooperation from the public realm; indeed, it remains unclear what probes he may be cooperating with.

Prosecutors also typically use status reports to request that a judge move a defendant to sentencing. It therefore remains unclear when Patten will be ultimately be sentenced. He is not likely to face significant jail time. 

(...)

Patten has business links to Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, as well as Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian who is suspected of having ties to Kremlin intelligence. Mueller has accused Manafort of lying to investigators about his contacts with Kilimnik during the 2016 campaign.

Last August, Patten also admitted to using an American citizen as a “straw purchaser” to obtain tickets to Trump’s inauguration for a “prominent” Ukrainian oligarch, though he was not charged with anything in connection with the admission.

Notice of Filing 

Prosecutors make secret filing in case linked to Mueller (The Hill)