Mueller investigation enters new phase

Trump tweets 'no collusion' as three former aides indicted

WASHINGTON - Three of US President Donald Trump's former campaign aides were con Monday, and two of them pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Paul Manafort, former campaign manager of Trump, pleaded on Monday not guilty to all charges filed in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe over the alleged Russia meddling in the presidential elections last year.

Manafort, together with his former business associate Rick Gates, appeared in the Federal District Court in Washington on Monday. Gates also pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

The indictment of Manafort and Gates neither mentioned Trump nor election meddling. However, the 31-page indictment against the two men contains 12 counts, including conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy against the United States, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading statements surrounding the Foreign Agents Registration Act, false statements and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.

In another development, an early foreign policy adviser to Trump's presidential campaign, George Papadopoulos, pleaded guilty to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about a contact with a professor with ties to Moscow, prosecutors said on Monday.

Papadopoulos admitted that he lied in a January interview with the FBI about his contacts with the Russian professor who has "substantial connections to Russian government officials," according to The New York Times report, quoting court documents.

Papadopoulos told the FBI at the time that the conversation took place before he joined Trump's campaign.

In fact, it happened days after he became Trump's adviser and the Russian professor took interest in him "because of his status with the (Trump) campaign", the documents said.

After it became public that three of his former campaign aides were indicted, Trump claimed on Twitter on Monday that there was "no collusion".

Manafort was indicted on charges that he funneled millions of dollars through overseas shell companies and used the money to buy luxury cars, real estate, antiques and expensive suits, the NYT reported.

"Manafort used his hidden overseas wealth to enjoy a lavish lifestyle in the United States without paying taxes on that income," the indictment said.

The authorities said Manafort laundered more than $18 million, while Gates is accused of transferring more than $3 million from offshore accounts. The two are also charged with making false statements.

"As part of the scheme, Manafort and Gates repeatedly provided false information to financial bookkeepers, tax accountants and legal counsel, among others," the indictment read.

A federal grand jury on Friday filed first charges in Mueller's probe, which Trump has repeatedly called "a witch hunt".

Trump has denied allegations of collusion between his campaign and Moscow during the elections. Moscow has also repeatedly dismissed seeking to influence the US elections.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Moscow had noted that US charges against Trump's aides did not point the finger at Russia over alleged meddling in US politics.

Mueller, the retired FBI director, was appointed in May as Special Counsel in charge of the Russia probe.

Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 11/01/2017 page12)