Rick Gates, Trump Campaign Aide, Pleads Guilty in Mueller Inquiry and Will Cooperate
- 6 years ago
Rick Gates, Trump Campaign Aide, Pleads Guilty in Mueller Inquiry and Will Cooperate
The plea deal could be a significant development in the investigation — a sign
that Mr. Gates plans to offer incriminating information against his longtime associate and the former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, or other members of the Trump campaign in exchange for a lighter punishment.
[Read our 2017 profile of Rick Gates »]
If Mr. Manafort continues to fight the charges in a trial, testimony from Mr. Gates could give Mr. Mueller’s team a first-person account of the criminal conduct
that is claimed in the indictments — a potential blow to Mr. Manafort’s defense strategy.
He also admitted that he lied to investigators earlier this month — after he was under indictment and was negotiating with the prosecutors — about the details of a 2013 meeting in Washington
that Mr. Manafort had with a member of Congress and a lobbyist, during which there was a discussion about Ukraine, where Mr. Manafort and Mr. Gates worked as political consultants.
Mr. Gates falsely told investigators that Mr. Manafort had told him
that the subject of Ukraine had not come up at the meeting, even though Mr. Gates had helped draft a report to Ukraine’s leadership after the meeting about what had transpired, according to the court papers.
Neither indictment indicated that either Mr. Gates or Mr. Manafort had information about the central question of the investigation
— whether Mr. Trump or his aides coordinated with the Russian government’s efforts to disrupt the 2016 election.
On Feb. 1, according to the records, Mr. Gates misled investigators about a conversation he had with Mr.
Manafort in March 2013, after Mr. Manafort had met with a congressman discuss the situation in Ukraine.
The plea deal could be a significant development in the investigation — a sign
that Mr. Gates plans to offer incriminating information against his longtime associate and the former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, or other members of the Trump campaign in exchange for a lighter punishment.
[Read our 2017 profile of Rick Gates »]
If Mr. Manafort continues to fight the charges in a trial, testimony from Mr. Gates could give Mr. Mueller’s team a first-person account of the criminal conduct
that is claimed in the indictments — a potential blow to Mr. Manafort’s defense strategy.
He also admitted that he lied to investigators earlier this month — after he was under indictment and was negotiating with the prosecutors — about the details of a 2013 meeting in Washington
that Mr. Manafort had with a member of Congress and a lobbyist, during which there was a discussion about Ukraine, where Mr. Manafort and Mr. Gates worked as political consultants.
Mr. Gates falsely told investigators that Mr. Manafort had told him
that the subject of Ukraine had not come up at the meeting, even though Mr. Gates had helped draft a report to Ukraine’s leadership after the meeting about what had transpired, according to the court papers.
Neither indictment indicated that either Mr. Gates or Mr. Manafort had information about the central question of the investigation
— whether Mr. Trump or his aides coordinated with the Russian government’s efforts to disrupt the 2016 election.
On Feb. 1, according to the records, Mr. Gates misled investigators about a conversation he had with Mr.
Manafort in March 2013, after Mr. Manafort had met with a congressman discuss the situation in Ukraine.