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| Ex-Skadden Lawyer Is Sentenced to 30 Days in Russia Inquiry | Ex-Skadden Lawyer Is Sentenced to 30 Days in Russia Inquiry |
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| WASHINGTON — A former lawyer for a powerful international corporate law firm was sentenced on Tuesday to 30 days in prison for lying to investigators in the special counsel inquiry about his communications with a Trump campaign aide and a Ukrainian businessman with ties to Russian intelligence. | |
| The former lawyer, Alex van der Zwaan, who is the son-in-law of a Russian billionaire, was the first person to be sentenced in the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. He was also fined $20,000. | The former lawyer, Alex van der Zwaan, who is the son-in-law of a Russian billionaire, was the first person to be sentenced in the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. He was also fined $20,000. |
| Mr. van der Zwaan had faced up to five years in prison for deceiving federal investigators who were examining the links between Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman; Rick Gates, Mr. Trump’s former deputy campaign manager; and the Ukrainian businessman, who was not named in court records. People familiar with the matter have identified him as Konstantin V. Kilimnik, who for years was Mr. Manafort’s right-hand man in Ukraine. | Mr. van der Zwaan had faced up to five years in prison for deceiving federal investigators who were examining the links between Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman; Rick Gates, Mr. Trump’s former deputy campaign manager; and the Ukrainian businessman, who was not named in court records. People familiar with the matter have identified him as Konstantin V. Kilimnik, who for years was Mr. Manafort’s right-hand man in Ukraine. |
| Mr. van der Zwaan, a 33-year-old Dutch citizen, knew all three men because his law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, had assigned him to work with them in 2012 on a report used to defend Viktor F. Yanukovych, the pro-Russia former president of Ukraine, from international criticism over the prosecution and incarceration of a political rival. | Mr. van der Zwaan, a 33-year-old Dutch citizen, knew all three men because his law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, had assigned him to work with them in 2012 on a report used to defend Viktor F. Yanukovych, the pro-Russia former president of Ukraine, from international criticism over the prosecution and incarceration of a political rival. |
| Mr. van der Zwaan was interviewed in November by investigators for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, just days after he charged Mr. Manafort and Mr. Gates with laundering the profits of their Ukrainian work and other crimes. The investigators asked Mr. van der Zwaan about his contacts with both Mr. Gates and Mr. Kilimnik, who they allege had ongoing ties to Russian intelligence when Mr. Gates was in touch with him in the final chaotic months of the 2016 campaign. | Mr. van der Zwaan was interviewed in November by investigators for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, just days after he charged Mr. Manafort and Mr. Gates with laundering the profits of their Ukrainian work and other crimes. The investigators asked Mr. van der Zwaan about his contacts with both Mr. Gates and Mr. Kilimnik, who they allege had ongoing ties to Russian intelligence when Mr. Gates was in touch with him in the final chaotic months of the 2016 campaign. |
| Mr. van der Zwaan claimed that he had had no substantive conversations with either Mr. Gates or Mr. Kilimnik in 2016. In fact, he has now admitted, he had had a series of phone calls with both men about potential criminal charges related to payments from the Ukrainian government. | Mr. van der Zwaan claimed that he had had no substantive conversations with either Mr. Gates or Mr. Kilimnik in 2016. In fact, he has now admitted, he had had a series of phone calls with both men about potential criminal charges related to payments from the Ukrainian government. |
| Skadden was paid more than $5 million for the 2012 report, according to court documents. The payments — reported in Ukrainian government documents as amounting to only about $12,000 — were funneled through a bank account in Cyprus controlled by Mr. Manafort and Mr. Gates, court records show. | Skadden was paid more than $5 million for the 2012 report, according to court documents. The payments — reported in Ukrainian government documents as amounting to only about $12,000 — were funneled through a bank account in Cyprus controlled by Mr. Manafort and Mr. Gates, court records show. |
| Prosecutors have accused Mr. Manafort of using a complex web of entities and bank accounts to hide and launder his profits from that work. Mr. Manafort has denied wrongdoing. In February, Mr. Gates pleaded guilty to financial fraud and lying to investigators and agreed to cooperate with the investigation. | Prosecutors have accused Mr. Manafort of using a complex web of entities and bank accounts to hide and launder his profits from that work. Mr. Manafort has denied wrongdoing. In February, Mr. Gates pleaded guilty to financial fraud and lying to investigators and agreed to cooperate with the investigation. |
| During the interview with Mr. Mueller’s team, Mr. van der Zwaan admitted that Mr. Gates had told him that Mr. Kilimnik was a former Russian intelligence operative. But, prosecutors stated, he concealed and lied about an email from Mr. Kilimnik. He also deceived investigators about a conversation in which Mr. Kilimnik warned him that the “official contract was only part of the iceberg” and the truth about the Ukrainian payments could come out and damage them both. | During the interview with Mr. Mueller’s team, Mr. van der Zwaan admitted that Mr. Gates had told him that Mr. Kilimnik was a former Russian intelligence operative. But, prosecutors stated, he concealed and lied about an email from Mr. Kilimnik. He also deceived investigators about a conversation in which Mr. Kilimnik warned him that the “official contract was only part of the iceberg” and the truth about the Ukrainian payments could come out and damage them both. |
| In pleading for leniency, Mr. van der Zwaan’s attorneys argued that their client had lied partly to hide the fact that he had improperly recorded a phone call with one of his law firm’s partners about the matter. He tried to correct his mistakes by voluntarily agreeing to another interview in early December, less than a month after the interview in which he had lied. | In pleading for leniency, Mr. van der Zwaan’s attorneys argued that their client had lied partly to hide the fact that he had improperly recorded a phone call with one of his law firm’s partners about the matter. He tried to correct his mistakes by voluntarily agreeing to another interview in early December, less than a month after the interview in which he had lied. |
| At that point, he turned over his notes, recordings, cellphone, iPad and laptops. He has been stranded in the United States since, away from his pregnant wife who lives in their apartment in London. He has been fired by his law firm and will likely never practice law again, his attorneys pointed out. | At that point, he turned over his notes, recordings, cellphone, iPad and laptops. He has been stranded in the United States since, away from his pregnant wife who lives in their apartment in London. He has been fired by his law firm and will likely never practice law again, his attorneys pointed out. |
| But prosecutors alleged that Mr. van der Zwaan simply abandoned his legal ethics. “Van der Zwaan had, in the words of one witness, ‘gone native’ — that is, he had grown too close to Manafort, Gates” and Mr. Kilimnik, their sentencing memo stated. | But prosecutors alleged that Mr. van der Zwaan simply abandoned his legal ethics. “Van der Zwaan had, in the words of one witness, ‘gone native’ — that is, he had grown too close to Manafort, Gates” and Mr. Kilimnik, their sentencing memo stated. |
| Mr. van der Zwaan is far from an object of pity, they argued: His father-in-law, a well-known Russian oligarch, has given him and his wife substantial sums of money. “Van der Zwaan, in short, is a person to whom every advantage in life has been given, and from whom the government and the professional bar rightly expected candor and uprightness,” prosecutors said. | Mr. van der Zwaan is far from an object of pity, they argued: His father-in-law, a well-known Russian oligarch, has given him and his wife substantial sums of money. “Van der Zwaan, in short, is a person to whom every advantage in life has been given, and from whom the government and the professional bar rightly expected candor and uprightness,” prosecutors said. |