INTELLIGENCE/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LOBBYING/PAUL MANAFORT/SENATE/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Washington lobbyist W. Samuel Patten pleaded guilty Friday [8-31-18] to acting as an unregistered foreign lobbyist, and admitted to lying to the Senate Intelligence Committee and funneling a Ukrainian oligarch’s money to Donald Trump’s Presidential Inaugural Committee. Patten’s plea and cooperation agreement is connected to special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the election and coordination with the Trump campaign — even apparently reaching into former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s inner circle in Ukraine. This is the first time the Justice Department has publicly charged a person for helping a foreigner secretly funnel money into a Trump political event. Under his deal with prosecutors, Patten is charged only with one criminal count. He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the felony charge. A sentencing date has not been set. Patten sought tickets to Trump’s inauguration on behalf of an unnamed prominent Ukrainian oligarch, according to court documents released Friday, ultimately paying $50,000 for four tickets. Patten used another American as a “straw purchaser,” funneling the Ukrainian’s money secretly to the inaugural committee through a Cypriot bank account.”
–Katelyn Polantz, “Lobbyist pleads guilty, says he helped steer foreign money to Trump inaugural and lied to Congress,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, August 31, 2018 6:59 pm