| Sam Patten is a minor figure in the Trump-Russia saga, but what he saw in his two decades as a Republican operative and overseas political gun-for-hire tells us much about the milieu out of which the murky scandal emerged. As Patten writes this week on Backchannel, he is not exactly the prototypical target of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He considers himself an idealist who worked to strengthen democracy around the world. And he voted, somewhat reluctantly, for Hillary Clinton because he viewed Donald Trump as an unacceptable candidate. And yet there he was in 2016, hiding the fact that he was working for a political party in Ukraine and using $50,000 of its money to buy tickets to the Trump inauguration. He was prosecuted under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and ultimately sentenced to three years' probation, 500 hours of community service, and fined $5,000. That relatively light sentence was influenced by the fact that he has agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors investigating several cases that spun out of the special counsel's office. But what Patten really sheds light on is the inner workings of the world of American operatives hired by political parties overseas. Working first in Russia and then in Ukraine, Patten got acquainted with and ultimately became the business partner of a Ukrainian named Konstantin Kilimnik, a close associate of Paul Manafort. Kilimnik too has been indicted by the special counsel, in his case for obstruction of justice. Patten traces his relationship with Kilimnik and offers new insight into the man described by the special counsel's report as having ties to Russian intelligence. Kilimnik—who goes by the nickname Kostya—has fled the US and is probably living in Ukraine, beyond the reach of US courts. Patten is doing his community service in Washington, DC, helping out at homeless shelters and youth service centers. "I would be well within my rights to say that Kostya had become a very expensive friend," Patten writes, "and my wife would probably tear him to pieces if she had the chance." Mark Robinson | Features Editor, WIRED | 
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