defend myself against the untrue piled up charges contained in the indictments against me."

Last Friday, the special counsel produced grand jury indictments for 13 Russian nationals, accusing them of operating a misinformation campaign to hurt Hillary Clinton's presidential effort. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos have already pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about their interactions with Russians and agreed to cooperate.

The 'scheme'

In court and case filings, prosecutors described an 11-year "scheme" in which the two longtime business partners allegedly worked together to launder tens of millions of dollars they made doing foreign lobbying work, avoid paying taxes and buoy income with fraudulently obtained loans.

Gates said he was guilty of helping Manafort use bank accounts in Cyprus and Grenadines to hide millionscuff links, listened as Judge Amy Berman Jackson read the offenses he is agreeing to plead guilty to. He said, "Yes, your honor," repeatedly as she read the court documents.

As he exited the hearing, Gates appeared in a lighter mood. He briefly joked with reporters about whether he may shave his beard, then walked from the courthouse to a waiting SUV through a scrum of cameras and protesters.

Gates has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, and they may ask the judge to reduce his sentence if they are satisfied. Gates' attorney also told the court he may argue for a reduction of the sentence because of the "disproportionate conduct" between Manafort and Gates.

Gates faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, but it's more likely his sentence will