Dollar, Bond Yields Drop As Mueller Unveils New Charges In Russia Probe

Just days after he announced charges against 13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian entities for their role in meddling in the US election, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has secured yet another indictment in his probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to sway the US election.

This time, the grand jury approved charges against Alex Van Der Zwaan, who is accused of knowingly giving “false, fictitious or fraudulent” statements to the FBI. Van Der Zwaan reportedly lied about his discussions with former Paul Manafort No. 2 Rick Gates, who has recently decided to cooperate with the probe. Bloomberg described Zwaan as “an attorney for a prominent New York law firm” – the firm is Skadden Arps – who was charged with “making false statements to the FBI as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential election.”

Skadden said it has fired Van Der Zwaan and that it is cooperating with investigators.

Van Der Zwaan was charged on Feb. 16 in federal court in Washington related to a report he helped prepare on the trial of a Ukrainian politician, Yulia Tymoshenko. Van Der Zwaan was charged with a criminal information, which typically precedes a guilty plea.

One twitter user pointed out that Van Der Zwaan is the nephew of a Russian oligarch…

Special Counsel Mueller announces charges against Alexander Van Der Zwaan, son-in-law of Russian oligarch, for false statements –

— Elizabeth Burke (@Burke_Esq) February 20, 2018

As Citi notes, when observing the market reaction, “the name is unfamiliar, even to those following the ongoing Mueller investigations. A quick internet search shows that the defendant is a London-based attorney for Skadden Arps who is also the Russian-speaking son-in-law of a Russian oligarch. His plea hearing is apparently scheduled for today at 14:30 local time.”

Both the US dollar and Treasury yields jerked lower on the news…

Read the full indictment below: