(Reuters) - Sam Nunberg, a former political aide to Donald Trump, will be interviewed on Thursday as part of a U.S. special counsel’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
Nunberg started working for then-businessman Trump in 2011, making him one of his earliest political advisers, but he was fired from the Republican’s campaign in August 2015 before the heat of the 2016 presidential race.
Nunberg’s interview in Washington with U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is about a week after investigators questioned President Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon. Nunberg visited Bannon in the West Wing and considers him a close friend, according to an interview with Newsmax last year.
Nunberg, 36, is also an associate of Trump ally and longtime political consultant Roger Stone.
Patrick Brackley, the attorney who will accompany Nunberg to visit Mueller’s team, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Mueller’s investigation arose in part from the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had meddled in the election and that its goals eventually included aiding Trump who won a surprise victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton. Russia denies the allegations and Trump says there was no collusion between Moscow and his campaign.
Mueller has charged several Trump associates and more than a dozen Russians.
Nunberg has had an on-off relationship with Trump over the years. He was dismissed months into the presidential campaign after Business Insider reported that he had written racially- charged Facebook posts in 2007. Nunberg told Business Insider he did not remember writing them and apologized.
Trump later sued Nunberg seeking damages of $10 million, saying the former aide had broken a confidentiality agreement. The lawsuit was settled in August 2016 and the one-page filing in a New York court did not provide details of the terms.
Nunberg said in a court filing in the case that Trump accused him of being the source for a media report about an argument between two other Trump campaign aides, Corey Lewandowski and Hope Hicks.
In an affidavit, Nunberg said the argument was part of an affair between Lewandowski, then Trump’s campaign manager, and Hicks, then Trump’s spokeswoman and now White House communications director.
At the time Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, called Nunberg’s allegations “categorically untrue.”
reporting by Nathan Layne in Washington; additional reporting by Steve Holland; editing by Grant McCool
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has ordered a closed hearing for Friday in the Russia probe case of Rick Gates, a former campaign aide for President Donald Trump, according to a court filing on Thursday.
The hearing will deal with Gates’ attorneys request to withdraw from the case over what they have described as “irreconcilable differences.”
Gates is charged with conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to defraud the United States and failing to register as a foreign agent for political work representing a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party.
The charges are part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 presidential election.
Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Writing by David Alexander
New charges were filed Thursday against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner, ratcheting up the legal pressure on them as they prepare for a trial later this year.
A new indictment has long been expected in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s prosecution of Manafort and his right-hand man, Rick Gates, on fraud and money laundering charges. Manafort served as President Trump’s campaign chairman from June to August 2016. Gates also served as a top official on Trump’s campaign. The new indictment contains 32 counts, including tax charges.
The filing Thursday comes at a time of significant uncertainty in the case about when a trial might happen, or even who the defense lawyers will be. Last week, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson criticized both sides for what she called “unacceptable delays” in a case which still doesn’t have a trial date set.
Manafort and Gates were hit with a 12-count indictment in October — the first criminal charges in Mueller’s probe of Russian interference with the 2016 election. That indictment focused not on events in the 2016 race but financial transactions involving work by Manafort and Gates for a Ukrainian political party, and their failure to notify U.S. authorities that they were allegedly acting as lobbyists for a foreign government.
The new charges come as Gates’ legal strategy and defense team are still in question. His three lawyers have asked to leave the case, a request the judge is considering. The details of those discussions have not been described publicly, beyond a court filing that said they involve “highly sensitive matters” that would “potentially be prejudicial to (Gates) as well as embarrassing.”
For a time, it appeared Gates’ new lawyer would be Thomas C. Green, an experienced white collar attorney with a reputation for cutting plea deals on behalf of his clients.
On Tuesday, an associate of Gates pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in the course of the Russia investigation. Alex van der Zwaan, a former lawyer at a premier law firm, admitted to lying about his contacts with Gates.
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