From Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged:
There’s bank fraud, there’s tax fraud, there’s money laundering, there’s unregistered foreign lobbying, and while there isn’t just as yet a clear connection to how this ties into the Russian election tampering probe, it clearly shows how seriously leveraged and therefore, vulnerable to being used by or as foreign agents they were. Especially Manafort, as Josh Marshall sketches out (you need TPM Prime for that one, I think–you should really get TPM Prime). Anyway, Paul Manafort was a guy so desperate for money that he went out of his way to work for the Trump campaign for free (as did a lot of folks, apparently)–but it’s hard to imagine he got nothing of value out of the job. And he remained in contact with the campaign through the transition (via the VP candidate he “helped” choose—Mike Pence). (Gates, of course, remained with the Trump campaign right through the transition, himself.)
What kinds of thing would Manafort’s position with the Trump campaign be good for? Well, maybe getting a spot in an eventual Trump cabinet for one of his creditors? Or helping “tweak” the Trump campaign’s position on Ukraine? Who knows what checks Manafort’s mouth might have written out of the Trump’s eventual presidency account? (Which could only get paid if Trump’s win could be ensured?)
But back to Gates–one of the things he is copping to, is making false statements to investigators in the probe. That’s what tripped up Mike Flynn, too. It also tripped up damn handsome attorney Alex van der Zwaan. This guy, van der Zwaan, is fascinatingly connected to a Russian billionaire by marriage who is, like Trump’s steadfast fixer, Michael Cohen, suing Buzzfeed over the Steele Dossier. That billionaire, German Khan, owns Alfa Group which includes Alfa Bank, which is an interesting side-story in all this that you probably have already heard about.
But: what was Gates lying about?