Franklin, Andrews, Kramer & Edelstein

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Former Trump campaign official Rick Gates expected to plead guilty and cooperate with special counsel in probe of Russian election interference

By Tom Hamburger, Spencer S. Hsu and Michael Kranish February 23 at 10:44 AM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/former-trump-campaign-official-rick-gates-expected-to-plead-guilty-and-cooperate-with-special-counsel-in-probe-of-russian-election-interference/2018/02/23/ceaaeac8-16b4-11e8-b681-2d4d462a1921_story.html?utm_term=.32ad8c3c4074

Rick Gates, a former top official in President Trump’s campaign, is expected to plead guilty Friday to charges brought by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III in his investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and cooperate with prosecutors, according to a person familiar with the situation.

It is not clear to what charges Gates intends to plead guilty.

Gates could provide the special counsel with valuable information about the inner workings of Trump’s operation: he served as a senior figure in the campaign and had access to the White House as an outside adviser in the early months of the administration.

The news of his expected deal with prosecutors comes a day after Mueller filed a new 32-count indictment against Gates and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, his longtime employer, ratcheting up pressure on the two men.

In October, Gates and Manfort were indicted on 12 charges including conspiracy and money-laundering in connection with their lucrative work advising a Russia-friendly political party in Ukraine. Both pled not guilty.

In the latest indictment, the special counsel accused the men of lying on their income-tax returns and conspiring to commit bank fraud to get loans as part an elaborate scheme to use their income from the Ukrainian political party to buy properties, evade taxes and support a lavish lifestyle.

Gates would be the third former Trump aide to admit guilt in Mueller’s probe. It was not immediately clear what impact his plea would have on his co-defendant, Manafort.

Unlike Manafort, who resigned from his position as Trump’s campaign chairman in August 2016, Gates remained with the campaign until election day, working at one point for the Republican National Committee. He then joined the inaugural committee as deputy chairman. Once Trump took office, Gates helped launch an allied group to support the president’s agenda and was a regular visitor at the White House.

[Rick Gates, once the man ‘in the corner,’ is now a central figure in Mueller investigation]

Gates spent much of his career at Manafort’s side. After earning degrees in government from the College of William & Mary in 1994 and a master’s in public policy from George Washington University, he became a research intern at the political consulting firm co-founded by Manafort.

Manafort introduced him to the highflying and controversial world of international political consulting. Among Manafort’s clients have been foreign leaders such as Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire (now Congo) and Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines.

Gates left the firm to work for companies in the lottery and gaming business, but he eventually reunited in 2006 with Manafort, who had begun doing political consulting work for Viktor Yanukovych, an aspiring Ukrainian politician seeking the presidency.

According to court documents, Manafort and Gates failed to register as foreign agents while they were working for Yanukovych, as required. When they belatedly reported the work in June, they said their company had been paid $17 million between 2012 and 2014.

In the October indictment, the special counsel alleged that Manafort and Gates laundered money for nearly a decade through scores of U.S. and foreign corporations and accounts, and gave false statements to the Justice Department and others when asked about their work on behalf of a foreign entity.

[Who did Manafort and Gates work for in Ukraine and Russia?]

Prosecutors allege that when the Justice Department approached Manafort and Gates in 2016 and 2017 about whether they should have registered as foreign agents for the work, they responded with false and misleading letters.

Manafort and Gates also were accused of trying to hide money kept in foreign bank accounts. Gates controlled as many as 30 bank accounts last year, including several in Cyprus in which he held more than $10 million, according to court documents.

All told, more than $75 million flowed through offshore accounts, the special counsel alleged.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/former-trump-campaign-official-rick-gates-expected-to-plead-guilty-and-cooperate-with-special-counsel-in-probe-of-russian-election-interference/2018/02/23/ceaaeac8-16b4-11e8-b681-2d4d462a1921_story.html?utm_term=.32ad8c3c4074