Indictment Issued Against Dutch Lawyer in Possible Russia Interference Case in US Elections

Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating possible Russian interference in the US presidential elections, announced on Tuesday, February 19, that an indictment has been issued against a lawyer for providing false testimony to special investigators regarding his connections with a former official of Donald Trump's election campaign. The indictment, filed in a federal court in Washington, accuses "Alex van der Zwaan" of lying to investigators about his relationship with Rick Gates, a longtime business associate of Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman for Donald Trump. Last year, indictments were also issued against Rick Gates and Paul Manafort, who are awaiting judicial review on charges including conspiracy to commit money laundering. Alex van der Zwaan is set to be arraigned on Tuesday, with the indictment already filed prior to this session. A federal grand jury last week issued an indictment against 13 Russian citizens and companies accused of interfering in the electoral process and political mechanisms of the US. The indictment against Alex van der Zwaan was issued by a special panel that worked on the statements of Paul Manafort and Rick Gates. According to the indictment filed in court, the prosecutor claims that Alex van der Zwaan lied to federal investigators about his role in producing a report on the trial of Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Prime Minister of Ukraine. Ms. Tymoshenko was a political rival of Viktor Yanukovych, the former President of Ukraine, whose party employed Paul Manafort and Rick Gates at that time. According to the details of this indictment, Alex van der Zwaan is accused of lying during an interview with FBI investigators on November 3, 2017. The instances for which he is accused of lying relate to his communications with Rick Gates and another unnamed individual referred to as "Person A." Additionally, Alex van der Zwaan is accused of deleting emails that the special counsel's office had requested. He is also accused of providing false testimony regarding a phone conversation he had in September 2016 with Rick Gates and "Person A" about Ms. Tymoshenko's case, which he recorded confidentially. Alex van der Zwaan is a lawyer and a citizen of the Netherlands. He is 33 years old and reportedly has close ties with very wealthy individuals in Russia. His father-in-law, "German Khan," is listed as the 11th richest billionaire in Russia by Forbes magazine. Robert Mueller's investigation team is conducting extensive inquiries into Russian interference and possible connections between individuals associated with Donald Trump and Russian officials. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump tweeted a quote from former President Barack Obama, who stated: "No one can seriously suggest that someone could interfere and manipulate the US elections. There is no evidence that this has happened in the past or will happen in the future. Therefore, I invite Mr. Trump to stop whining and to present his reasons and plans for gaining votes." Obama made these remarks in response to an accusation from Mr. Trump that there is a possibility of electoral fraud. Obama did not make this reaction regarding the possible Russian interference and the use of social networks to sway voters. Several US intelligence agencies had previously stated that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election and attempted to change the election results in favor of Donald Trump through hacking and false advertising. Russia has denied these allegations. The President of the United States has repeatedly emphasized that there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia to achieve victory in the presidential election.