Sources: Former Trump Aide Rick Gates Expected To Plead Guilty In Russia Probe
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/CBS News/AP) -- Rick Gates, a former Trump campaign adviser and associate of ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is expected to plead guilty in a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller, sources familiar with the negotiations told CBS News Sunday.
Gates, 45, was indicted by a federal grand jury in October on eight counts including fraud and money laundering as part of the special counsel's probe into ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
Sources told CBS News' Paula Reid about the expected guilty plea.
The revelations of Gates' plea comes after attorneys for Gates requested to withdraw from the case. Reid reports that all of Gates' attorneys-of-record were seeking to withdraw from the case.
A 31-page, 12-count indictment charges Manafort and Gates with conspiracy against the U.S., conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.
The indictment alleges Manafort and Gates hid their work as agents of the Ukrainian government and its political parties and tried to cover up millions of dollars they made from that work.
Gates had reached the point in his case at which he must decide whether or not to pursue a plea deal. The fact that three experienced trial attorneys wanted off the case suggested at the time that Gates may be pursuing a plea deal. The attorneys remain under a gag order by the court.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
