A man who communicated with former Trump campaign adviser Richard Gates has pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI in special counsel Robert Mueller Robert Swan MuellerSasse: US should applaud choice of Mueller to lead Russia probe MORE's probe into Russian election interference. 
 
 Attorney Alex Van Der Zwaan was charged with making “materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations” to the special counsel’s office and FBI agents, according to a court filing released Tuesday morning. 
 
 He entered a guilty plea on Tuesday afternoon. 
 
 Van Der Zwaan allegedly lied about his last communications with Gates and then deleted emails requested by the special counsel’s office, according to the indictment. 
 
 He allegedly did so as part of his work for a firm hired by the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice to prepare a report on the trial of Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister of Ukraine. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 The new charges come as Gates is reportedly nearing a plea deal with Mueller that could lead to his testimony against Paul Manafort Paul John ManafortTrump slams NSA for deleting call records, calls it a ‘disgrace’ Manafort's assistant gave FBI access to evidence in storage locker: report Federal judge agrees nonpartisan commission beats special counsel MORE, President Trump Donald John TrumpChelsea Handler issues July 4 apology to world: 'We’re sorry about our president' US pork producers prepare for steep tariffs: 'I don't want to be the patriot who dies at the end of the war' ACLU membership grew from 400,000 to 1.84 million after Trump was elected: report MORE's former campaign chairman. 
 
 Gates was Manafort's business partner. Mueller indicted Gates and Manafort together last year, accusing them of working together over the years to launder money, among other crimes. 
 
 The pair had worked for lobbying clients overseas, including Viktor Yanukovych, a former president of Ukraine allied with Russia. 
 
 Van Der Zwaan is accused of making false statements to the FBI about a report that he helped the Ukraine's Justice Ministry prepare in 2012 on the trial of a Ukrainian politician named Yulia Tymoshenko. 
 
 The charges appear to be related to a report produced by the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom that helped the Ukrainian government counter international criticism that the 2011 prosecution and conviction of Tymoshenko had been driven by political aims. 
 
 Van Der Zwaan was an associate in Skadden's London office, according to reports. The law firm told CNBC in a statement that it "terminated its employment of Alex van der Zwaan in 2017 and has been cooperating with authorities in connection with this matter." 
 
 The New York Times reported last year that the law firm's report was arranged by Manafort as part of his work for Yanukovych. 
 
 According to the document released Tuesday, Van Der Zwaan lied when he told investigators that his last communication with Gates was in mid-August 2016, and that his last communication with an individual identified only as “Person A” was in 2014, at which point the two “discussed Person A’s family.” 
 
 The document states that Van Der Zwaan actually spoke with Gates and “Person A” regarding a report on the trial and “surreptitiously recorded the calls.” It also says that he deleted or did not produce emails to the special counsel’s office, including a September 2016 correspondence between him and “Person A.” 
 
 —Last updated at 4:26 p.m. ||||| Rick Gates arrives at federal court in Washington, Friday, Feb. 23, 2018. Gates, a former top adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign is scheduled to plead guilty in the special counsel's Russia... (Associated Press) 
 
 Rick Gates arrives at federal court in Washington, Friday, Feb. 23, 2018. Gates, a former top adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign is scheduled to plead guilty in the special counsel's Russia investigation to federal conspiracy and false statements charges. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Russia investigation (all times local): 
 
 4:40 p.m. 
 
 Special counsel Robert Mueller is accusing President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman of secretly paying former European politicians to lobby on behalf of Ukraine. 
 
 The new allegation against Paul Manafort comes in a newly unsealed indictment made public Friday. The indictment followed a guilty plea by Manafort's longtime business associate, Rick Gates. 
 
 The indictment accuses Manafort of paying the former politicians, informally known as the "Hapsburg group," to appear to be "independent" analysts when in fact they were paid lobbyists. Some of the covert lobbying took place in the U.S. 
 
 The indictment says the group was managed by a former European chancellor. Court papers accuse Manafort of using offshore accounts to pay the group more than 2 million euros. 
 
 ___ 
 
 3:05 p.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman is maintaining his innocence after his longtime business associate pleaded guilty to federal charges. 
 
 Paul Manafort says in a statement that the plea by Rick Gates on Friday does not change his commitment to defend himself against what he calls "untrue piled up charges." Manafort says he had "hoped and expected" that Gates would have "the strength" to continue to trial. He says Gates chose to plead guilty for "reasons yet to surface." 
 
 Gates has pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and false statements charges in the special counsel's Russia investigation. 
 
 The plea is a strong indication that Gates is planning to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation as it continues to probe the Trump campaign, Russian election interference and Manafort. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2:55 p.m. 
 
 A former top adviser to President Donald Trump's election campaign has formally pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and false statements charges in the special counsel's Russia investigation. 
 
 The plea by Rick Gates is a strong indication that he is planning to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation as it continues to probe the Trump campaign, Russian election interference and Gates' longtime business associate, Paul Manafort. 
 
 The 45-year-old Gates made the plea at the federal courthouse in Washington. It comes a day after Gates and Manafort were indicted in Virginia on new charges of tax evasion and bank fraud. Manafort, who is Trump's former campaign chairman, has said he is innocent. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2 p.m. 
 
 Rick Gates, a former senior adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign, has arrived at a federal courthouse in Washington ahead of an expected guilty plea. 
 
 A court filing shows Gates has agreed to plea to charges accusing him of conspiring against the U.S. government related to fraud and unregistered foreign lobbying as well as lying to federal authorities. 
 
 The plea could indicate he is planning to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. 
 
 Gates' scheduled guilty plea comes a day after a federal grand jury in Virginia returned an indictment against him and former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort accusing them of tax evasion and bank fraud. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:30 p.m. 
 
 Special counsel Robert Mueller has filed two charges in advance of a scheduled guilty plea by a former top adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign. 
 
 Rick Gates is set to appear at 2 p.m. Friday at the federal courthouse in Washington for a plea agreement hearing. A court filing shows Gates has agreed to plea to charges accusing him of conspiring against the U.S. government related to fraud and unregistered foreign lobbying as well as lying to federal authorities. 
 
 The plea could indicate he is planning to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. 
 
 Gates' scheduled guilty plea comes a day after a federal grand jury in Virginia returned an indictment against him and former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort accusing them of tax evasion and bank fraud. 
 
 ___ 
 
 11:05 a.m. 
 
 A former top adviser to the Trump campaign is expected to plead guilty in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. 
 
 A person close to Rick Gates say he is expected to enter the plea as early as Friday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details. 
 
 A plea could signal that he's planning to cooperate with Mueller. 
 
 The plea comes a day after a federal grand jury in Virginia returned an indictment against him and former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort accusing them of tax evasion and bank fraud. It was the second round of charges against the two men. They were charged last October with unregistered lobbying and conspiring to launder millions of dollars they earned while working on behalf of a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:10 a.m. 
 
 Special counsel Robert Mueller has filed additional criminal charges against President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman and his business associate. 
 
 The Thursday filing adds allegations of tax evasion and bank fraud and significantly increases the legal jeopardy facing Paul Manafort, who managed Trump's campaign for several months in 2016, and longtime associate Rick Gates. Both had already faced the prospect of at least a decade in prison if convicted at trial. 
 
 The two men were initially charged in a 12-count indictment in October that accused them of a multimillion-dollar money-laundering conspiracy tied to lobbying work for a Russia-friendly Ukrainian political party. Manafort and Gates, who also worked on Trump's campaign, both pleaded not guilty after that indictment.
– More Robert Mueller moves: Prosecutors have charged an attorney they say lied to federal investigators in the Russia probe, reports the Hill. A document filed in federal court in Washington Tuesday accuses Alex Van Der Zwaan of one charge of making false statements, per the AP. The information was filed ahead of a plea hearing scheduled for later Tuesday. The court filing says Van Der Zwaan lied to investigators about his interactions with Rick Gates, a former Trump campaign aide who was indicted last year on charges of conspiracy to launder money and acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Gates is reportedly planning to plead guilty and testify against former campaign chief Paul Manafort.