Former Skadden Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Lying in Russia Investigation
Though Mr. Manafort was not mentioned by name in the court document about Mr. van der Zwaan, the history between Mr. Manafort and the law firm suggests
that the special counsel has cast a wide net in investigating Mr. Manafort’s business relationships around the world.
One day after its release, a State Department official called it “incomplete,” saying
that it “doesn’t give an accurate picture” and that the State Department was concerned that “Skadden Arps lawyers were obviously not going to find political motivation if they weren’t looking for it.”
The law firm’s work was being investigated by Ukraine’s top prosecutor, which asked the Department of Justice for help in questioning
eight lawyers who the Ukrainians believed were involved, including Mr. van der Zwaan, according to documents reviewed by .
WASHINGTON — An attorney whose firm was accused of whitewashing abuses by the former president of Ukraine in cooperation with Paul Manafort,
the former Trump campaign chairman, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to lying to the special counsel investigating Russian election interference.
The attorney, Alex van der Zwaan, worked in London for the prominent New York law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
A speaker of Russian, Dutch, English and French, Mr. van der Zwaan also is the son-in-law of a wealthy Russian, German Khan, who was
on a roster of oligarchs named in a recent Treasury Department list of prominent Russians with links to President Vladimir V. Putin.
Mr. van der Zwaan’s expertise at the law firm was in congressional investigations
and government policy, according to a biography once on the law firm’s website that has been taken down.