Lawyer Alex van der Zwaan, charged with lying to the special counsel in the Russia investigation, has entered a plea agreement, but not a cooperation agreement, with prosecutors.
WaPo:
He pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to investigators, a felony. A Dutch citizen, van der Zwaan, 33, will face a recommended sentence ranging from zero to six months in prison when he is sentenced April 3.
According to the Statement of the Offense, the following occurred.
On November 3, 2017, in Washington, D.C., VAN DER ZWAAN was interviewed by the Special Counsel's Office, including Department of Justice prosecutors and Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was represented by counsel. He was warned that intentionally false statements to the Office could subject him to criminal charges. He indicated that he understood.
VAN DER ZWAAN thereafter made materially false statements during the interview.
During the November 3, 2017, interview, VAN DER ZWAAN knowingly and intentionally falsely stated the following:
- his last communication with Gates was in mid-August 2016, which consisted of an innocuous text message;
- his last communication with a longtime business associate of Manafort and Gates in Ukraine (Person A) was in 2014, when he talked with Person A about Person A's family; and
- he did not know why Law Firm A had not produced to the Special Counsel's Office a September 2016 e-mail between him and Person A.
In truth and in fact, VAN DER ZWAAN well knew and believed the following facts, when he made each of the above statements:
In or about September 2016, VAN DER ZWAAN spoke with both Gates and Person A regarding the Report. In early September 2016, Gates called VAN DER ZWAAN and told him to contact Person A.
After the call, Gates sent VAN DER ZWAAN documents including a preliminary criminal complaint in Ukraine via an electronic application called Viber.
VAN DER ZWAAN then called Person A and discussed in Russian that formal criminal charges might be brought against a former Ukrainian Minister of Justice, Law Firm A, and Manafort.
VAN DER ZWAAN recorded the call. VAN DER ZWAAN then called the senior partner on the Report at Law Firm A and partially recorded that call. Finally, VAN DER ZWAAN called Gates and recorded the call. VAN DER ZWAAN also took notes of the calls.
WaPo:
Based in London, van der Zwaan worked for the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, which did work with Manafort and Gates while they served as political consultants in Ukraine, before joining Trump’s campaign in 2016. Van der Zwaan is the son-in-law of German Khan, a billionaire and an owner of Alfa Group, Russia’s largest financial and industrial investment group.
Paul Manafort's work with Skadden raised suspicion.
[Manafort] enlisted the firm in his effort to shield a client, Viktor F. Yanukovych, the Russia-aligned president of Ukraine, from international condemnation.
Mr. Manafort asked Skadden to draft a report that critics have said essentially whitewashed Mr. Yanukovych’s human rights record ...
The law firm’s work was being investigated by Ukraine’s top prosecutor, which asked the Department of Justice for help in questioning eight lawyers who the Ukrainians believed were involved, including Mr. van der Zwaan ...
It is unclear what role Mr. van der Zwaan played in crafting the report. According to a report last year in the Kiev Post, Mr. van der Zwaan served as a go-between for the Skadden team that went to Ukraine for its report.
(...)
In a statement, Skadden said: “The firm terminated its employment of Alex van der Zwaan in 2017 and has been cooperating with authorities in connection with this matter.”
(...)
The Ukrainian general prosecutor alleged that Mr. Yanukovych’s government circumvented contracting rules by initially agreeing to pay Skadden a fee that was less than the threshold for competitive bidding — reportedly about $12,000 — then later paying the firm a total of nearly $1.1 million.
In court documents in the Ukranian case, Mr. Manafort is identified as having facilitated the contract for the law firm.
Former Skadden Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Lying in Russia Investigation (NYT)
In Mueller probe, son-in-law of Russian businessman pleads guilty to false statements (WaPo)