A mystery filing in the case of W. Sam Patten, the D.C. lobbyist who pleaded guilty to acting as an unregistered foreign agent in August, adds a curious wrinkle to what has generally been regarded as a relatively minor case.
On New Year’s Eve, prosecutors moved to keep a routine status update in Patten’s case entirely under wraps. The joint status reports filed after plea agreements but before sentencing have typically included a broad reference to the defendant’s ongoing cooperation.
The fact that Patten’s status report is entirely under seal could suggest that Patten, who has been seen as a more marginal figure in the foreign lobbying world, may in fact have more value to prosecutors, including special counsel Robert Mueller, than previously realized — or that a problem has developed with his cooperation.
In pleading guilty, Patten admitted that he helped a Ukrainian oligarch attend the Trump inauguration by illegally using a straw donor to purchase a $50,000 ticket to the event. The plea agreement required Patten to cooperate with the D.C. U.S. attorney’s office, Mueller’s office, and other law enforcement agencies.
Patten’s Ukrainian client — Serhiy Lovochkin — was the same politico who prosecutors said was Paul Manafort’s main paymaster during his time in Ukraine. Patten worked with alleged Russian spy Konstantin Kilimnik as well, who was charged with witness tampering in the separate Manafort case in June.
Prosecutors from the Mueller investigation attended Patten’s August plea hearing, signaling interest in the case.
D.C. federal prosecutors charged Patten with one count of lying to Congress and another count of failing to register as a foreign agent, after receiving a tip from the Senate Intelligence Committee. Patten’s case comes as investigations into the Trump inauguration heat up, amid allegations of pay-for-play that have swarmed the $107 million event.
Patten does not yet have a sentencing date. Prosecutors typically wait until they believe a cooperator has expended their usefulness before setting a sentencing date.
Patten’s guilty plea and cooperation agreement highlight a wholly separate track of #trumprussia which I believe will turn out to be bigger than the ‘collusion’ tracks. Patten was involved in a scheme to funnel foreign money into the Trump Inaugural Fund (slush fund). The Inaugural Committee was run by Tom Barrack and Rick Gates (who was Barrack’s lieutenant for this role). As the collusion track was being executed by Russia in coordination with the Trump campaign (and perhaps a separate track run by Saudi Arabian and Israeli interests) plans were being made to pitch Trump on policy change wish lists in exchange for financial contributions (read: bribes). Patten is tied to Konstantin Kilimnick and the same or similar circle of pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russians with a deep interest in Ukraine and ties to the Kremlin as was Manafort. In the Patten case, the policy change wish list would’ve included sanctions removal, with possible links to the Flynn promoted nuclear energy plan for the Middle East, an acceptance of the ‘Ukraine Peace Plan’ which would in effect give US recognition or formal acquiescence to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, positioning on NATO, and possibly Syria. All of these moves would change the global balance of power in favor of Russia and diminish the western coalition. All of this was purported to be executed through a simple pay to play scheme. Patten brought the pay and asked, on behalf of clients, to play.
Why the whole status report under seal? Unless doing it partially redacted would tell the opposition exactly what they want to know, simply by looking at the redactions.
Since it’s a status report on the level of Patten’s cooperation, my guess would be that Mueller’s team wants to keep secret the extent to which Patten’s cooperated rather than any specific details of that cooperation.
“…will turn out to be bigger than the ‘collusion’ tracks…”
Holy Putin, Batman. Another one that was off my radar. Thanks. I hope Rachel, Chris or Lawrence bring their pedagogical talents to the parsing of this one as it unfolds. Thanks for your homework on this khyber man.
I wonder if the seal has anything to do with this …
unnamed American … he he —
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/01/02/secret-court-filing-by-prosecutors-is-very-bad-news-for-donald-trump.html