Gates To Plead Guilty To Two Counts: Conspiracy, Making False Statements
Court filings show that former Trump campaign deputy chairman will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of making false statements.
Former Trump campaign deputy director Rick Gates has flipped and details of his plea deal are emerging.
According to court filings, Gates will plead guilty to two counts, one count of conspiracy and one count of making false statements to federal investigators.
After weeks of conflicting reports that Rick Gates was nearing a deal, multiple news outlets confirmed Friday that Trump’s former deputy campaign chairman has reached an agreement with the Special Counsel to plead guilty and become a cooperating witness in the Trump-Russia investigation.
Rick Gates is set to appear in federal court 2 p.m. today as part of his plea change, NPR’s Carrie Johnson reports.
Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller filed new documents with more detail about the change to Gates’ status. New court filing contains two charges:
— NPR (@NPR) February 23, 2018
One is conspiracy against the United States for “impeding, impairing, obstructing and defeating the lawful governmental functions of a government agency, namely,” the Justice Department and the Treasury Department.
The second charge is false statements:— NPR (@NPR) February 23, 2018
The document says Gates lied to the special counsel and the FBI about a March 2013 meeting that was attended by Paul Manafort, an unnamed senior lobbyist and an unnamed member of Congress. Gates allegedly lied that he was told by Manafort there were no discussions about Ukraine.
— NPR (@NPR) February 23, 2018
Both men performed lucrative work for the pro-Russian government in Ukraine, and that when that work dried up, they allegedly resorted to fraud and money laundering, according to previous court charges.
— NPR (@NPR) February 23, 2018
[image via CNN screenshot/DOJ]
