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Tuesday briefing: Manafort is first big fish in Trump-Russia net
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Top story: Charges reach deep inside election campaign
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Hello – it’s Warren Murray back in the briefing seat today.
Trump-Russia investigators have charged ex-campaign manager Paul Manafort with tens of millions of dollars in money laundering and tax evasion, as well as unregistered foreign lobbying and conspiracy to defraud the US government. The White House has been hastily playing down the implications or connections to Trump and his administration – but special counsellor Robert Mueller’s investigation appears to be drawing ever closer to the Oval Office.
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Manafort and business associate Rick Gates have pleaded not guilty and were put under house arrest on multimillion-dollar bail. The men were involved in extensive business dealings with powerful Russians and pro-Kremlin figures in Ukraine. Here is Paul Manafort turning himself in to the FBI in Washington on Monday:
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A third man, the former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, has pleaded guilty to perjury, admitting he lied to FBI agents about contacts with Russians. It can be read into the wording around Papadopoulos’s indictment that he has “flipped” and is now providing evidence against others in Mueller’s investigation. Again, the White House is seeking to portray him as a peripheral figure – but the indictment suggests he worked extensively to foster links between Moscow and the future president.
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The Manafort-Gates indictment alleges they channelled $75m through elaborate structures offshore and in the US to avoid tax and scrutiny. “[Manafort used] his hidden overseas wealth to fund a lavish lifestyle.” The White House has insisted the charges relate to activities before Manafort joined Trump’s campaign. But the fact that the Russian/Ukrainian side would have known about the “staggering” amount of hidden money, says US expert Scott Horton, means “they had knowledge of serious criminal acts by Manafort which they could hold over his head. The suspicion would naturally be that they were a driving force behind his volunteering to serve the Trump campaign for free.”
Mueller’s levelling of charges related to financial crimes at this stage of the investigation is seen as a way of pressuring defendants to provide more information on the Trump team’s relationship with Moscow. Tom McCarthy examines the vital issues involved and whether they could spell a president’s downfall.
Commons misconduct – Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the House of Commons, has pledged that incidents of sexual harassment will not go unpunished after the reports of recent days. Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, is the first cabinet member named in the controversy but the broadcaster Julia Hartley-Brewer has come to his defence over the incident involved, where he felt her knee repeatedly. It happened 15 years ago and Fallon apologised at the time. Hartley-Brewer said it was “wrong to treat workplace banter and flirting – and even misjudged sexual overtures – between consenting adults as being morally equivalent to serious sexual harassment or assault. It demeans genuine victims of real offences … I have not been a victim.”
Meanwhile, Netflix has confirmed it is ending the TV series House of Cards after star Kevin Spacey was accused of making a sexual pass at the actor Anthony Rapp when the latter was 14. The network said it made the decision months ago but was nonetheless “deeply troubled” by the allegation. Spacey has been criticised over his response – he apologised to Rapp but in doing so referenced his own homosexuality. Owen Jones is among those saying it fuels a vile myth that equates gay men with paedophiles and pederasts.
Shhh, mandarins are meditating – The government has refused to release studies into the economic impact that Brexit might have on 58 sectors of the economy. Government officials need a “safe space” for their Brexit cogitations, says the Department for Exiting the EU, which has declined a freedom of information request from Seema Malhotra. The Labor MP said it seemed to be “more about keeping parliament and the public in the dark”. Theresa May’s cabinet is due to discuss the next stage of the Brexit process this morning, with the PM hoping (as ever, it seems) for progress on the financial settlement, Northern Ireland and citizens’ rights.
Body parts found in flat – A Japanese man has been arrested after nine bodies and two severed heads in picnic coolers were found in his apartment, according to reports. Police made the discovery at an apartment in Zama, just outside Tokyo, while searching for a missing woman. They have detained 27-year-old Takahiro Shiraishi on charges of abandoning a body while the investigation continues.
Eye of newt ... Exeter may have been the first as well as the last place to have hanged someone for witchcraft in England, historians believe. Being seen with a large toad was enough to condemn one poor woman, while another was accused (but acquitted) of using a rat to spy on and hex neighbours. Tonight is Halloween, of course, and Maev Kennedy will have you spellbound with tales of murder by bewitchment, chicken killings and household lice infestations that were treated as capital crimes of the dark arts from 1563 to 1685.
“Foreigners must leave, and the constitution must be changed to sharia.” The defiant declaration is one Taliban mullah’s pre-condition for any peace talks that might end the fighting in Afghanistan.
Rare and revealing interviews with militant fighters in Logar and Wardak provinces reveal a fragmented but resilient Taliban movement – strong in numbers and, though divided in leadership, more than capable of mounting devastating attacks. Donald Trump is sending 4,000 more troops and Taliban veterans like Mullah Abdul Saeed promise to meet them head-on. “We use suicide bombers and we will use more of them,” Saeed said. “If the US changes its tactics of fighting, so do we.”
Sport
Through the publication and serialisation of his autobiography A Clear Blue Sky, Jonny Bairstow has had an unusual lead-up to the Ashes – tackling the subjects of suicide and bereavement in a way that he hopes has offered a path forward for others facing them.
Lewis Hamilton’s fourth F1 title suggests he can go on to match Juan Manuel Fangio at least. Some of the UK’s top Paralympic stars have been warned they could be reclassified ahead of a key parliamentary hearing into claims that some exaggerated their disabilities to boost their chances of winning a medal. Elliot Daly is set to miss out on England’s autumn internationals campaign due to torn knee ligaments, giving Semesa Rokoduguni the chance to stake his claim for a first international appearance in 12 months. Finally, Kieren Fallon – the former champion jockey who sought psychiatric help after facing years in prison for a crime he did not commit – has said he is smiling again and wakes up wanting to go to work.
Business
Asian stocks were flat this morning with many eyes on a weak Wall Street. The US dollar has also been affected by the investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 US election. Elsewhere, Samsung has announced spectacular third quarter profits of $109m a day … that’s $10bn over three months.
Overnight the pound was buying US$1.32 and €1.13.
The papers
The front pages today are a mix of coverage of sexual harassment by MPs at Westminster and the Mueller investigation into links between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia.
The Times goes with the unfolding local political scandal: “Ministers face being fired over sex pests crackdown.” The Telegraph throws the story forward, predicting “Sex scandal could be worse than expenses”, with Tories saying May should call an inquiry into allegations that threaten to engulf parliament. The Sun has its own take: “Shock confession as sex pest dossier implicates SIX Cabinet ministers” above the headline: “Fallon: I felt radio host’s knee.” The Guardian and the FT look to America. The Guardian goes with the headline: “Trump under pressure after ex-aide admits perjury” and the pink paper has a similar line: “Former Trump campaign aides charged in Russia links inquiry.”
Forging their own paths, as ever, the Mirror splashes on the Pride of Britain awards and Prince William telling firefighters and the survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire that they are truly inspiring, while the Express declares that aspirin cuts the risk of cancer. The Mail has a health story too: “Toxic air kills 40,000 a year.”
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