WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - A former senior official in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Rick Gates, will plead guilty on Friday to conspiracy against the United States and lying to investigators, according to court documents, in a sign he will likely cooperate with a federal probe into Russia's role in the election.

Gates, who was a deputy campaign manager for Trump, is being investigated by the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which is probing alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election.

A federal judge set a plea hearing for 2 p.m. (1900 GMT) for Gates, who had been facing much more serious charges including bank fraud and conspiracy to launder money.

A guilty plea by Gates would increase pressure on Paul Manafort, who was Trump's campaign manager for five months in 2016, to also seek a plea deal.

Cooperation by the two could potentially provide a rich vein of information for Mueller, who is also investigating whether Trump's campaign colluded with Moscow to interfere in the election.

None of the charges to date against Gates or Manafort have made reference to any connection with Russian meddling in the 2016 election or possible collusion. Russia has denied the accusations of interference. Trump has said there was no collusion, and has also denied any attempt to obstruct Mueller's probe.

Mueller, appointed by the Department of Justice last year, has a broad brief that allows him to look into any wrongdoing uncovered in the course of his investigation.

Gates helped run the campaign's day-to-day operations, played a key role at the Republican National Convention at which Trump was chosen as the party's nominee and accompanied Trump on campaign flights.

He stayed on in the campaign even after Manafort resigned in August 2016 amid a controversy over cash payments from Ukraine. After Trump's election win in November that year, Gates was on Trump's presidential transition team and his inaugural committee.

On Thursday, Mueller filed a 32-count indictment against Gates and Manafort that includes charges of bank fraud and lying on tax returns. Prosecutors allege that Manafort, with Gates' assistance, laundered more than $30 million and duped banks into lending money. It says the pair used funds from secret offshore accounts to enjoy a life of luxury.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow sought to meddle in the campaign to tilt the vote in favor of Trump, the Republican candidate, including by hacking the emails of leading Democrats and distributing disinformation and propaganda online.

The White House said on Friday that the latest charges against Manafort and Gates were unrelated to Trump.

"This indictment has nothing to do with the White House or the president. As you know, we have been cooperative with the special counsel and as we continue to see, there's no evidence of collusion, no evidence of wrongdoing," Mercedes Schlapp, the White House strategic communications director, told Fox News Channel. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by John Walcott, Doina Chiacu and Karen Freifeld; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Toni Reinhold and Frances Kerry)</s>More charges were laid Thursday against President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman and his business associate

Dramatically escalating the pressure and stakes, special counsel Robert Mueller filed additional criminal charges Thursday against President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman and his business associate.

The filing adds allegations of tax evasion and bank fraud and significantly increases the legal jeopardy facing Paul Manafort, who managed Trump’s campaign for several months in 2016, and longtime associate Rick Gates. Both had already faced the prospect of at least a decade in prison if convicted at trial.

The two men were initially charged in a 12-count indictment in October that accused them of a multimillion-dollar money-laundering conspiracy tied to lobbying work for a Russia-friendly Ukrainian political party.

The new charges, contained in a 32-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Virginia, allege that Manafort and Gates doctored financial documents, lied to tax preparers and defrauded banks — using money they cycled through offshore accounts to spend lavishly, including on real estate, interior decorating and other luxury goods.

The new criminal case comes a week after a separate Mueller indictment charged 13 Russians in a conspiracy to undermine the U.S. presidential election through a hidden social media propaganda effort. The charges against Manafort and Gates don’t relate to any allegations of misconduct related to Trump’s campaign, though Mueller is continuing to investigate potential ties to the Kremlin.

The charges against Manafort and Gates arise from their foreign lobbying and efforts that prosecutors say they made to conceal their income by disguising it as loans from offshore companies. More recently, after their Ukrainian work dwindled, the indictment also accuses them of fraudulently obtaining more than $20 million in loans from financial institutions.

The new indictment increases the amount of money Manafort, with the assistance of Gates, is accused of laundering to $30 million. It also charges Manafort and Gates with filing false tax returns from 2010 through 2014 and in most of those years concealing their foreign bank accounts from the IRS.

In a document that accompanied the new indictment, prosecutors said they had filed the charges in Virginia, rather than Washington where the other case is pending, because the alleged conduct occurred there and one of the defendants objected to them being brought in Washington.

The indictment comes amid ongoing turmoil in the Manafort and Gates defence camps. Manafort has been unable to reach an agreement with prosecutors over the terms of his bail and remains under house arrest, while Gates’s lawyers withdrew from the case after acknowledging “irreconcilable differences” with their client. A new lawyer, Thomas Green, entered an appearance Thursday on Gates’s behalf.

Mueller was appointed in May to investigate potential co-ordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. He took over an ongoing FBI investigation into Manafort’s foreign lobbying work.

After a two-month stretch that produced no charges, the new indictment is part of a flurry of activity for Mueller’s team within the past week.

Besides the charges against the Russians, Mueller’s team on Tuesday unsealed a guilty plea from a Dutch lawyer who admitted he lied to investigators about his contacts with Gates.

Manafort and Gates, who also worked on Trump’s campaign, both pleaded not guilty after their indictment last fall.

Two other people who aided Trump in the campaign or in the White House — former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos — have pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about their foreign contacts. Neither man has been sentenced. Both are co-operating with the investigation.

Mueller is also examining whether Trump obstructed justice through actions including the firing last May of FBI Director James Comey. His team has expressed interest in interviewing the president.

Associated Press writer Jeff Horwitz contributed to this report.

Eric Tucker And Chad Day, The Associated Press</s>Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed a 32-count indictment Thursday hitting former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and aide Rick Gates with fresh charges of tax evasion and bank fraud.

Manafort is specifically charged with five counts related to filing false income tax returns and four counts of failure to report foreign bank and financial accounts. Gates is accused of 11 counts related to filing false income tax returns and three counts of failure to report foreign bank and financial accounts. Both men are accused of nine counts of bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Prosecutors claim the men doctored financial documents, lied to tax preparers and defrauded banks -- using money they cycled through offshore accounts to spend lavishly, including on real estate, interior decorating and other luxury goods.

The new indictment comes a week after Mueller filed charges against 13 Russians, accusing them of a vast conspiracy to undermine the U.S. presidential election.



The charges against Manafort and Gates don't relate to any allegations of misconduct related to Trump's campaign, though Mueller is continuing to investigate potential ties to the Kremlin.

Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni said in a statement that the former Trump campaign chairman is innocent and stressed that the charges "have nothing to do with Russia and 2016 election interference/collusion."



Manafort "is confident that he will be acquitted of all charges," Maloni said.



Manafort and Gates were initially charged in a 12-count indictment last October that accused them of a multimillion-dollar money-laundering conspiracy tied to their foreign lobbying work. They are accused of directing a covert Washington lobbying campaign on behalf of pro-Russian Ukrainian interests. Manafort and Gates pleaded not guilty to the initial charges.

The charges against Manafort and Gates arise from their foreign lobbying and efforts that prosecutors say they made to conceal their income by disguising it as loans from offshore companies. More recently, after their Ukrainian work dwindled, the indictment also accuses them of fraudulently obtaining more than $20 million in loans from financial institutions.



The new indictment increases the amount of money Manafort, with the assistance of Gates, is accused of laundering to $30 million. It also charges Manafort and Gates with filing false tax returns from 2010 through 2014 and in most of those years concealing their foreign bank accounts from the IRS.



The new indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va. It leaves open the possibility that Manafort or Gates could face additional state charges of filing false tax returns.

In a document that accompanied the new indictment, prosecutors said they had filed the charges in Virginia, rather than Washington where the other case is pending, because the alleged conduct occurred there and one of the defendants objected to them being brought in Washington.

The indictment comes amid ongoing turmoil in the Manafort and Gates defense camps. Manafort has been unable to reach an agreement with prosecutors over the terms of his bail and remains under house arrest, while Gates's lawyers withdrew from the case after acknowledging "irreconcilable differences" with their client. A new lawyer, Thomas Green, entered an appearance Thursday on Gates's behalf.



Mueller was appointed in May to investigate potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. He took over an ongoing FBI investigation into Manafort's foreign lobbying work.



After a two-month stretch that produced no charges, the new indictment is part of a flurry of activity for Mueller's team within the past week.



Besides the charges against the Russians, Mueller's team on Tuesday unsealed a guilty plea from a Dutch lawyer who admitted he lied to investigators about his contacts with Gates.



Manafort and Gates, who also worked on Trump's campaign, both pleaded not guilty after their indictment last fall.



Two other people who aided Trump in the campaign or in the White House -- former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos -- have pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about their foreign contacts. Neither man has been sentenced. Both are cooperating with the investigation.



Mueller is also examining whether Trump obstructed justice through actions including the firing last May of FBI Director James Comey. His team has expressed interest in interviewing the president.



Fox News' Jake Gibson and Jon Decker contributed to this report. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.</s>Former campaign aide Rick Gates pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy and making a false statement, becoming the third associate of President Donald Trump to make a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller, NBC News reported.

The plea turns up the pressure on Paul Manafort, a close business associate of Gates who was the chairman of the Trump campaign. The two were indicted in October on conspiracy and other charges related to their lobbying work in Ukraine.

A criminal information filed ahead of the plea hearing says that between 2006 and 2007, Gates and others "conspired to defraud the United States by impeding impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful governmental functions of a government agency, namely the Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury."

In addition, he admits he lied about a March 19, 2013, meeting attended by Manafort, a lobbyist, and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, and that he falsely denied that Ukraine was discussed and that he was preparing a report for Ukraine's leadership.</s>Rick Gates, who once served as deputy to former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, has reportedly reached a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller and will cooperate with prosecutors in their case against Manafort, according to several media outlets Friday. The plea could come as early as Friday afternoon.

Gates, who also served on President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee before founding a pro-Trump nonprofit, had for days been widely believed to be negotiating a deal with Mueller.

If he pleads guilty, Gates will become the third known former Trump official to cooperate with Mueller, whose probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election has been repeatedly dismissed by the president as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”

The investigation has seemed to escalate recently. On Feb. 16, Mueller indicted 13 Russians connected to the Internet Research Agency — a Russian troll farm known for its propaganda and disinformation campaigns. He also indicted 28-year-old Richard Pinedo —who apparently unwittingly participated in the Russians’ interference — on a charge of identity fraud. Pinedo pleaded guilty.

On Tuesday, Mueller secured a guilty plea from Alex Van Der Zwaan — a Ukraine-connected lawyer who was associated with Gates. That plea strongly suggested the reports of Gates’ cooperation with Mueller were true.

There was a surprising twist in the ongoing saga Thursday, when Mueller hit Manafort and Gates with 32 charges in a superseding indictment that alleged the two had laundered over $30 million.

Former federal prosecutor Patrick Cotter said the harsh new charges — which replaced the 12 counts the pair had been indicted on back in October — seemed to signal that negotiations between Gates and Mueller had broken down.

“The normal practice is to file a less serious charge by way of information for a cooperator; you then let them plead to that instead of the more serious charges in the original indictment,” Cotter said in an email. “Perhaps it is just that Mueller’s gambit to hit a reluctant Gates with new charges to inspire a spirit of cooperation worked far more quickly than one would expect.”

Gates, who worked with Manafort for years before helping him helm the Trump campaign in the summer of 2016, remained in contact with the White House through at least he beginning of 2017.

The administration in recent days has downplayed the impact a Gates guilty plea would have on the president.

“There’d be no anxiety here,” a White House spokesperson told CNN on Saturday.

But Gates cooperating with Mueller would almost certainly put significant pressure on the embattled Manafort to follow suit.

“A Gates plea and cooperation would make the pressure on Manafort to cooperate all but unbearable,” Cotter said. “And the likely sentence based on yesterday’s indictment is very significant. So, the logic of cooperation for Manafort is undeniable.”</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New sealed criminal charges have been filed in federal court in the case brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller against two of President Donald Trump’s former campaign officials, a court record indicated on Wednesday.

The single-page document, filed at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, did not reveal the nature of the new charges in the case involving former campaign manager Paul Manafort and aide Rick Gates.

Its inclusion in a binder in the court clerk’s office that is routinely updated with new criminal charges signals that Mueller’s office may have filed a superseding indictment replacing a previous one from last year against the two men.

Manafort, who was Trump’s campaign manager for almost five months in 2016, and Gates, who was deputy campaign manager, were indicted by Mueller’s office in October. They face charges including conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to defraud the United States and failure to file as foreign agents for lobbying work they did on behalf of the pro-Russian Ukrainian Party of Regions. Both have pleaded not guilty.

It was unclear when any new charges would be announced publicly.

Last Friday, Mueller’s office revealed in a court filing that it had uncovered “additional criminal conduct” by Manafort in connection with a series of “bank frauds and bank fraud conspiracies” related to a mortgage on his property in Fairfax, Virginia, a Washington suburb.

Mueller is probing Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia and whether the Republican president has unlawfully sought to obstruct the investigation. Russia denies the allegations. Trump says there was no collusion.

The Special Counsel’s office declined to comment on the new court filing. Attorneys for Manafort and Gates could not be immediately reached for comment. A spokesman for Manafort declined to comment.

Last year, U.S. intelligence agencies found that Russia had meddled in the election and that its goals eventually included aiding Trump who won a surprise victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Manafort has been under house arrest since he was charged. He and prosecutors have struggled to agree on bail terms to permit him to leave his home, though some of those details have remained under seal.

However, on Friday, Mueller’s office revealed that it is concerned about alleged bank fraud in connection with one of the properties that Manafort pledged as collateral.

In Friday’s filing, prosecutors claimed that Manafort secured his mortgage from the Chicago-based Federal Savings Bank by doctoring profit and loss statements from his lobbying firm and “overstating its income by millions of dollars.”

Prosecutors said they plan to offer the court more evidence about the alleged misconduct at the next bail hearing.

The Federal Savings Bank is led by Stephen Calk, who served on a Trump campaign economic advisory panel. Calk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mueller on Tuesday stepped up pressure on Manafort and Gates to cooperate in his investigation, unsealing a criminal charge against a Dutch lawyer, Alex van der Zwaan, for lying to Mueller’s investigators.

The charge arises from work that van der Zwaan, the son-in-law of one of Russia’s richest men, did on a 2012 report about the trial of Ukraine’s former prime minister while he was employed as a lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

The report was used to justify the pre-trial detention of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko by her rival, and Manafort’s client, pro-Russian former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Manafort and Gates lobbied in connection with the rollout of the report, and are accused by Mueller’s office of facilitating secret payments for the report through off-shore bank accounts.

Mueller’s office last Friday also indicted 13 Russians and three Russian companies for their alleged involvement in a criminal and espionage conspiracy to tamper in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.</s>Former Donald Trump campaign official Rick Gates pleaded guilty Friday to two criminal charges in special counsel Robert Mueller’s wide-ranging investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign and related activities.

Gates is now the third Trump associate known to be working with Mueller’s investigation, and his plea deal will put the spotlight on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

Prosecutors are trying to pressure Manafort to speak with prosecutors about what he knows, particularly about the campaign.

Gates was Manafort’s right-hand man for a decade, was privy to most, if not all, of Manafort’s activities during the campaign and stayed in the Trump orbit after Manafort’s exit. Manafort has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

In Friday’s hearing, Gates told a federal judge that he understood his potential sentence depended on his cooperation with prosecutors on the charges: conspiracy to commit to defraud the United States and making false statements.

Gates, bearded and wearing a blue suit, tie and cuff links, listened to the judge read the offenses he is agreeing to plead guilty to and the possibility of being sentenced to up to 57 to 71 months in prison. He said “Yes, your honor” repeatedly as Judge Amy Berman Jackson read the court documents.

Thursday, prosecutors described a “scheme” in which the two longtime business partners allegedly laundered $30 million, failed to pay taxes for almost 10 years and used real estate they owned to fraudulently secure more than $20 million in loans.

Gates said that despite his “initial desire to vigorously defend myself,” he has had a “change of heart” in order to protect his family, according to a letter sent to his family and friends, obtained by CNN from a Gates friend.

“The reality of how long this legal process will likely take, the cost, and the circus-like atmosphere of an anticipated trial are too much,” Gates wrote. “I will better serve my family moving forward by exiting this process.”

He wrote that it was “difficult decision” to make, but that ensuring his family’s “well-being is first and foremost.”

“The consequence is the public humiliation, which at this moment seems like a small price to pay for what our children would have to endure otherwise,” he said.

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.

“Notwithstanding that Rick Gates pled today, I continue to maintain my innocence. I had hoped and expected my business colleague would have had the strength to continue the battle to prove our innocence,” Manafort said. “For reasons yet to surface he chose to do otherwise. This does not alter my commitment to defend myself against the untrue piled up charges contained in the indictments against me.”

Gates has been in negotiations with Mueller’s office for more than a month, and that Gates had spoken to prosecutors about his case since his indictment, CNN previously reported.

Defense lawyer Tom Green, who’s handled the plea negotiation for Gates, told the court he’d represent Gates officially Thursday night, a strong indication that Gates was on the precipice of a plea deal with prosecutors. Gates’ trial lawyers have now left the case.

Even as of yesterday, Gates’ friends had tried to convince him not to plead guilty and sought for him a lawyer who would discount his cost, but Gates changed his mind.

Gates rejected several offers of a deal from the special counsel in recent days. Although at times this week a deal appeared to be off, talks were still continuing throughout Thursday until the deal was done, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Document says Gates lied this month about Ukraine discussion

Gates was caught in a lie by investigators after an interview on February 1, one of the days he spoke to investigators during plea negotiations, according to the plea document and a source familiar with the case.

The document says Gates lied to investigators earlier this month about a 2013 meeting in Washington, attended by Manafort and others. According to the document, Gates lied when he said Ukraine was not discussed at the meeting.

“Gates had participated with Manafort in preparing a report that memorialized for Ukraine leadership the pertinent Ukraine discussions that Manafort represented had taken place at the meeting,” the new court filing says.

That meeting, in mid-March 2013, was attended by Manafort, California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, and former Rep. Vin Weber, who is now a lobbyist with Mercury LLC, according to lobbying disclosures filed last year with the Justice Department. Rohrabacher and Weber were not identified in Friday’s court filings, though their positions were referenced and the description in the court filing matches the record of the meeting in the lobbying disclosures.

Rohrabacher is one of the most Russia-friendly lawmakers on Capitol Hill. He regularly embraces Kremlin-aligned talking points and has forged friendly relations with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Rohrabacher has given private interviews to the Senate and House intelligence committees, which are conducting their own investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.</s>WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC News) Former Trump campaign advisor Rick Gates pleaded guilty Friday to charges of lying to federal agents and conspiracy against the United States.

The plea is seen as a strong indication that Gates is prepared to testify against co-defendant and former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, a key target in the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Court documents say Gates hid tens of millions of dollars he earned from lobbying work for Ukraine.

His plea comes one day after Mueller increased the pressure to cooperate, filing additional charges of tax fraud and bank fraud against both Gates and Manafort.

Both were first indicted on conspiracy and other charges last October. Manafort says he continues to maintain his innocence, and none of the allegations are directly related to the campaign.

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 Note: By commenting below you agree to abide by the KOBI5.com commenting guidelines. View the KOBI5.com Comment Board Guidelines »</s>Paul Manafort and Rick Gates' case has added a new criminal charge or charges as of Wednesday, though whether the action is additional grand-jury approved indictments or indicates a coming a plea agreement remains a mystery.

A record-keeping book in the federal courthouse in Washington included a new sealed filing in Manafort and Gates' case, which was opened in late October when the former Trump campaign advisers pleaded not guilty to money laundering and failure to properly disclose their foreign lobbying work. The filing contained no additional information.

The filing could indicate additional indictments in the case, or it could be a type of charge called a criminal information, which would indicate an agreement between prosecutors and a defendant.

Prosecutors on Manafort's case said on Friday they found evidence of bank fraud and related conspiracies, for which Manafort had not been charged.

CNN has also reported that Gates has spoken to prosecutors about his case and has been negotiating a plea deal for more than a month. It's still unclear this week whether he is closer to finalizing an agreement. Both Manafort and Gates maintain their not guilty pleas.

A European lawyer who worked with Gates and Manafort years ago pleaded guilty Tuesday to lying to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators about his interactions with Gates and an unnamed Ukrainian.

Gates visited the federal courthouse just after 2 p.m. Wednesday to file paperwork in the clerk's office.

Gates' trial team is awaiting a judge's approval to exit the case, and defense lawyer Tom Green has been negotiating with prosecutors for a possible plea. The judge on his case has set a deadline for 5 p.m. for him to say what he'd like to do about his attorneys.</s>Former campaign aide Rick Gates pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy and making a false statement, becoming the third associate of President Donald Trump to make a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller, NBC News reported.

The plea turns up the pressure on Paul Manafort, a close business associate of Gates who was the chairman of the Trump campaign. The two were indicted in October on conspiracy and other charges related to their lobbying work in Ukraine.

A criminal information filed ahead of the plea hearing says that between 2006 and 2007, Gates and others "conspired to defraud the United States by impeding impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful governmental functions of a government agency, namely the Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury."

In addition, he admits he lied about a March 19, 2013, meeting attended by Manafort, a lobbyist, and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, and that he falsely denied that Ukraine was discussed and that he was preparing a report for Ukraine's leadership.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller files a 32-count indictment against political consultant and lobbyist Paul Manafort and his aide Rick Gates in the Eastern District of Virginia for multiple crimes including tax evasion and bank fraud.