The first criminal charges to come from special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into foreign meddling in the 2016 election stem from different activities. Here's a look at the men charged:
PAUL MANAFORT
- Donald Trump's top strategist between late March and August 2016 during presidential campaign
- A lawyer by training with an ill-fated career as a movie producer in the early 2000s
- Worked for Republicans Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan
- Founded lobby forms that established contacts with people including Democratic Republic of Congo's dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Ahkmetov
- As an adviser to Ukraine's pro-Russian Party of Regions helped the party turn around its reputation as corrupt and helped get Ukraine's president elected in 2006
- Was ousted from Trump's campaign August 2016 amid revelations of of under-the-table payments by the ousted Ukrainian government.
RICK GATES
- Manafort's deputy, both in the Trump campaign and in Ukraine.
- Began as an intern at Manfort's lobbying firm Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly
- Later joined Manafort's new firm, Davis Manafort Inc and helped drum up business in former Soviet States. Worked together for Ukraine's Party of Regions
- After Manafort got booted from the campaign amid revelations about his Ukrainian political work Gates stayed on as a Republican National Committee liaison to the campaign.
- After the election took a post with a newly created political nonprofit to support Trump, America First Policies. Stepped down amid controversy surrounding his and Manafort's work with Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska.
GEORGE PAPADOPOULOS
- Before joining Trump campaign, billed himself as international energy consultant
- Named by Trump campaign as one of eight foreign policy advisers in March 2016
- Previously reported to have tried to facilitate contact between Russian government entities and the Trump campaign.
