Gates is third to plead guilty in Mueller investigation
WASHINGTON — Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates will plead guilty to fraud charges and has agreed to testify against President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russian meddling probe.
The move is a turnaround for Gates, who along with Manafort had pleaded not guilty in October to a host of charges including money laundering. The plea is expected to be presented in federal court this week, sources told the Los Angeles Times on the condition of anonymity.
Gates’ plea deal, which will reduce his potential sentence if he substantially cooperates with Mueller and his team, makes him the third known cooperating witness in the Mueller investigation along with former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and former campaign aide George Papadopoulos.
It also is the latest twist in the ongoing probe, which last week resulted in indictments against 13 Russian nationals for a broad campaign of “information warfare” during the 2016 presidential election. Gates’ plea could be an effort to exert pressure on Manafort to also cooperate, sources said. Last week Manafort faced an additional count of bank fraud after an alleged attempt to change his bond agreement by falsely stating information to a mortgage lender.
The moves come as Trump spent yesterday morning railing against the probe on Twitter.
“I never said Russia did not meddle in the election,” Trump tweeted yesterday, one of more than dozen tweets and retweets from the president over the weekend. “I said ‘it may be Russia, or China or another country or group, or it may be a 400 pound genius sitting in bed and playing with his computer.’ ”
Trump also tweeted yesterday: “If it was the GOAL of Russia to create discord, disruption and chaos within the U.S. then, with all of the Committee Hearings, Investigations and Party hatred, they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. They are laughing their asses off in Moscow. Get smart America!”
Trump did not say he believed that Russia interfered with the election, a fact that bothered Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), “because Russia’s clearly tried to advance their agenda into the United States.”
“The president’s been very adamant to say he didn’t collude,” Lankford said yesterday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “But I would say the clear message here is Russia did mean to interfere in our election in whatever way that that might be, starting as far back as 2014.”