Consultant assisting Mueller investigation

Former Bernie Sanders consultant assisting Mueller investigation

Tad Devine was one of a number of American consultants who assisted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on his work in Ukraine.

By THEODORIC MEYER

Tad Devine, a veteran Democratic operative who worked as a senior adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, is assisting special counsel Robert Mueller in his prosecution of Paul Manafort, according to Devine's consulting firm.

Long before Manafort became chairman of President Donald Trump’s campaign, Devine was one of a number of American consultants who worked with Manafort in 2010 to help elect Viktor Yanukovych as president of Ukraine. Mueller has examined Manafort’s work in Ukraine as part of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Julian Mulvey, a partner at Devine’s firm, Devine Mulvey Longabaugh, said in statement that Mueller had assured the firm that it has “no legal exposure and did not act unlawfully.”

Devine stopped working for Yanukovych after his government’s arrest of Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Ukrainian prime minister and his political rival. Tymoshenko was later imprisoned by Yanukovych’s government on what were widely condemned at the time as politically-motivated charges.

“After the administration of the presidential candidate we had worked for arrested his political opponent, we quit,” Mulvey said in his statement. “We then declined additional offers to work on his later campaigns.”

Documents filed in court by Manafort’s lawyers on Thursday confirm that Devine declined to work with Manafort on the 2012 Ukrainian elections.

However, less than three months before the elections, Devine sent Manafort a memo with advice on how Yanukovych’s party could get on “more favorable message terrain.” The memo also indicates that Devine and Manafort had spoken recently.

“It was great to talk to you, and I hope we catch up in person soon,” Devine wrote in the memo.

And after Yanukovych was forced from power and fled to Russia in 2014, Manafort again recruited Devine to help him build a new Ukrainian political party.

“My rate for something like this would be $10,000/day, including travel days,” Devine wrote in a 2014 email to Manafort’s deputy, Rick Gates. “So if you want me to leave the US on Monday 6/16 and return on Friday 6/20 that would be 5 days at $10G/day for $50,000.00. You would need to make the travel arrangements, and transfer the $50G before the trip.”

Devine ended up making the trip, emails included in the documents filed by Manafort’s lawyers show. Less than five months later, Devine signed on to work on Sanders’ presidential campaign.