Trump Campaign Adviser Rick Gates Is Finalizing His Plea Deal With Muller
This news should freak out Paul Manafort and Donald Trump.
Former senior Trump campaign adviser Rick Gates is in the final stages of negotiating his plea agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Gates’ cooperation deal with with the Special Counsel is not likely to be welcome news to his former boss Paul Manafort, who was charged at the same time as Gates, or President Trump.
The revelation that Gates is finalizing his cooperation deal with Mueller’s investigators was first reported by CNN.
A plea deal for Gates would only come in exchange for cooperation and testimony against higher-ups (Paul Manafort and Donald Trump) in the investigation. As CNN notes, “Gates’ cooperation could be another building block for Mueller in a possible case against President Donald Trump or key members of his team.”
According to the report, Gates has had a “Queen for a Day” interview with Mueller’s team. “Queen for a Day” is the term for an interview where a defendant is able to admit crimes to prosecutors without the admission being used against them.
The plea agreement has been in negotiations for at least a month. “Gates has already spoken to Mueller’s team about his case and has been in plea negotiations for about a month,” CNN reported.
Read the full CNN report here.
[image via CNN screenshot]
