A former federal prosecutor who helped take down mob boss John Gotti said the indictments released Monday by special counsel Robert Mueller are a strong indication that his team is looking to play hardball with other witnesses for the remainder of the Russia probe.
“I think the main purpose of the Manafort indictment was to send a message to all other witnesses that they’re talking to or will talk to that [if] you refuse to cooperate or you won’t tell the truth, we’ll come after you,” said Patrick Cotter, a former assistant U.S. attorney.
While Cotter noted he has no way of knowing the Mueller strategy without being on the team, he also pointed to the timing of the release of the guilty plea of George Papadopoulos, an advisor on the Trump campaign, although the level of his involvement and importance to the campaign is being hotly debated.
The special counsel’s office released the indictments against Manafort and his business associate Rick Gates, which include charges of money laundering, conspiracy against the U.S., and failing to register for work on behalf of a foreign agent.
Shortly after releasing the indictments, the special counsel’s office also released the agreement for the guilty plea by Papadopoulos for making “material false statements and material omissions” during an interview with the FBI in January as part of the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 campaign.
“Timing is essential, it’s a key part of it, and in a case like this you’re absolutely trying to send a messages by what you charge and when you charge it,” Cotter noted.
“That’s why, not only did they file the Manafort and the Gates indictments today, but they also filed the Papadopoulos plea, which is really interesting because — and ultimately it’s probably in some ways the more important event today — because, there was no reason they had to do that today,” he said.
A publication of the Papadopoulos plea by the Department of Justice shows that the agreement was signed over three weeks ago on Oct. 5.
“They [the prosecutors] could have done that next week, next month — there’s no magic about letting the world know about Papadopoulos, except unless you’re sending the message and you’re trying to blunt the criticism that, ‘Oh look, the Manafort-Gates indictment isn’t really about Russia and the campaign,’” Cotter said.
“So if you anticipate that criticism, what you do is you release Papadopoulos on the same day, and you show the world that, ‘No, no, no, we are making progress on the Russia campaign part of this investigation. We’ve got an insider, he’s cooperating, so don’t even come to us and suggest somehow we’ve gotten distracted by trivia.”
Apart from coupling the release of the Papadopoulos plea with the Manafort and Gates indictments, Cotter said one other charge against Manafort stood out.
“The one specific charge that caught my attention was the failure to disclose foreign bank accounts, only because that is a difficult charge to defend against,” Cotter said. “Either you did or you didn’t.”
“Money laundering is an ‘intent’ crime, so it’s a little harder to prove. You have to prove that he intended to disguise the source or the destination of the money, and those kinds of charges are a little more defensible.”
