Mueller: Manafort Paid European Pols to Secretly Lobby U.S. for Ukraine

Paul Manafort secretly paid more than 2 million euros to a group of former European politicians to lobby the United States on behalf of Ukraine, a new indictment filed by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office alleges. The “Hapsburg group” allegedly formed by Manafort included a former chancellor and another politician. In order to hide its work on behalf of Ukraine’s government, a nongovernmental agency was formed to retain the group, but Manafort allegedly said it would act “at our quiet direction.” Rick Gates, Manafort’s former business partner, is not listed as a defendant and pleaded guilty to several charges on Friday.