Former Donald Trump campaign official Rick Gates is expected to plead guilty to criminal charges in special counsel Robert Mueller’s wide-ranging investigation of Russian meddling into the 2016 presidential campaign and related activities, a source familiar with the decision tells CNN.
It was not immediately clear the terms of the deal are, what information Gates has given prosecutors or whether he will continue to cooperate in the investigation. The plea could come as soon as Friday afternoon.
Mueller files new charges against Manafort and Gates
It comes one day after Mueller filed new charges against Gates and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. In the indictment, 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.
Already, the pair faced a combined 12 criminal charges in federal court in Washington, DC, for alleged money laundering and failing to disclose banking information and foreign lobbying work they did prior to 2015. A handful of Thursday’s charges are also connected to the charges related to offshore accounts in the previous indictment.
Manafort and Gates pleaded not guilty to the charges they face in DC in October. Manafort has denied all charges against him.