A former Skadden associate based in London has pleaded guilty to lying to US investigators conducting a probe into Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

According to prosecutors, Dutch national Alex van der Zwaan Van helped draft a 2012 report by Skadden for the administration of then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. It defended the conviction of Yanukovych’s bitter rival and predecessor, Yulia Tymoshenko, taking a position contrary to the US and the EU, which contend that her prosecution was politically motivated. The report was secretly paid for by two Trump campaign aides, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, who were simultaneously lobbying on behalf of Yanukovych in the States and who, said prosecutors, used offshore accounts to clandestinely pay Skadden’s $4 million bill for the report.

When he was first quizzed by US authorities in November 2017, 33-year-old van der Zwaan told them that his last contact with Gates was a trivial text in August 2016, and that he last talked with ‘Person A’, an unnamed figure in Ukraine, in 2014. He also played down his contributions to the Tymoshenko report.

The Lying Dutchman

But prosecutors alleged that he actually communicated with Gates and Person A as late as September 2016, days after Manafort was forced to quit the Trump campaign when it emerged that he was essentially a paid agent for Ukraine. According to prosecutors, van der Zwaan, Gates and Person A then discussed their worries that Ukrainian prosecutors might bring criminal charges over the report. Van der Zwaan and Person A also discussed whether a former Ukrainian minister of justice, Manafort and Skadden might be charged. Prosecutors said he also called a senior Skadden partner, and deleted and failed to produce emails requested by the special counsel and Skadden.

In a statement Skadden said it sacked van der Zwaan in 2017 and was cooperating with authorities. It said, “the conduct to which Alex has pled guilty is contrary to our values, policies and expectations”. His defence lawyer said he hoped his punishment for making America great again would be over by August, so he could return home to Notting Hill in time for his wife to give birth. She is the daughter of German Khangives who is, how about that, a Russian oligarch.