A lobbyist behind the illegal purchase of the Trump inaugural ticket, a "valuable resource" for Mueller investigators

A US lobbyist who admitted to having paid $ 50,000 for a pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarch to attend the inauguration of President Donald Trump was considered a "valuable resource" for government investigators. He deserves to be commended for this conviction, state prosecutors said Monday.

As part of its cooperation agreement, W. Samuel Patten met or talked on the phone with the attorneys of the special advocate Robert Mueller and other government investigators, after pleading guilty in the summer last for failing to register as a foreign lobbyist in the United States, according to the US Attorney. Columbia District Office, which inherited the special board case.

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"In all these sessions, Patten has been honest and direct with government investigators," the government said in a statement. judicial filing the sentence imposed on the lobbyist on Friday.

The federal prosecutors' condemnation note largely resists the description of Patten's assistance, explaining to Judge Amy Berman Jackson, of the US District Court, that she would file this information under seal because they "contain sensitive information about other investigations and people who have not done so yet. been (and can not be) charged with a crime. "

Patten's earlier work as a political consultant abroad, said federal prosecutors, helped to make him a "valuable resource for the government in a number of other criminal investigations, providing useful information on 'other persons and entities'.

In explaining Patten's cooperation, prosecutors confirmed that he was ready to testify last fall against his associate Paul Manafort before the former president of the Trump campaign pleaded guilty and avoids a lawsuit against him. Washington for being accused of money laundering, not to register as a foreign agent and falsifying witness. .

Patten faces a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment, a fine of up to $ 250,000 and a probationary release of up to three years, although his lawyers urged Jackson Monday to grant a probation sentence to 47-year-old lobbyists in light of their cooperation and acceptance. responsibility for his crimes.

"He asks the Court, in connection with the development of his sentence, to recognize that his crimes were not motivated by greed or the desire to conceal relevant information from the American public or from the public. help or conceal any potential interference in the 2016 presidential election, "Patten's lawyers wrote in their own penalty memo. "On the contrary, Mr. Patten 's decisions in this case stemmed primarily from the desire to satisfy the demands of his clients and to present himself in the best possible way after unexpectedly finding himself in the center of the business. investigation into the interference conducted by Russia. "

According to prosecutors, Patten would have paid a US "straw buyer" to buy tickets for his anonymous Ukrainian client at Trump's inauguration committee without revealing that they had been funded by a foreign individual.

In their pain memo Monday, Patten's lawyers acknowledged their client's misguided decision, but said she had nothing to do with partisan politics, noting that he was not a supporter of Trump and voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

"In the mind of Mr. Patten, it was a ticket for a post-election party and not an attempt to influence an election or a politician," they wrote. . "More importantly, he was blinded by the desire to accommodate his client. If the foregoing explains why Mr. Patten did so, he provides no justification for his decision. The judgment was completely broken and Mr Patten regrets his involvement in the inauguration tickets. "

Federal prosecutors also stated that Patten deliberately misled the Senate Intelligence Committee – which had referred his case to criminal prosecution – by withholding documents and giving false testimony about the payment abroad of the ticket. inaugural, as well as violations of foreign lobbying.

Patten's lawyers explained in their sentencing memo that their client had "acknowledged that he had made a mistake" in the way he had handled the evidence sought by the Senate committee, including removing approximately 200,000 emails from his Gmail account. Patten had previously provided documents to the Senate and sat for a voluntary interview in order to "mistakenly believe that he was free to delete his emails."

Friday 's conviction will be the latest in a series of hearings related to the investigation in the Mueller case, which to date included charges against at least 34 people and three companies. Until now, the sentence of seven and a half years of Manafort related to a series of financial and conspiracy charges is the longest, followed by the sentence of three years imprisonment of Michael Cohen, former Trump personal attorney, months.