Rick Gates admits to ‘crimes’ committed with Paul Manafort
‘Star witness’ says former Trump campaign chairman was unregistered foreign agent

Rick Gates, the long-time business partner of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has testified in court that he helped Manafort commit a number of crimes while the pair worked together.
Manafort’s trial is the first to arise from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian inerference in the 2016 US presidential election.
Gates has reached a plea deal with prosecutors, which includes testifying against Manafort over his role in the alleged crimes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Prosecutor Greg Andres reportedly wasted little time getting to the heart of his questioning of Gates. “Did you commit crimes with Mr Manafort?” Andres asked, to which Gates replied: “Yes.”
Taking the witness stand, Gates “admitted to helping Manafort doctor financial statements, hide foreign income and cheat on his taxes”, Reuters reports.
Gates’ testimony included that he had, under Manafort’s direction, hidden 15 foreign bank accounts from US authorities, even though the pair knew it was illegal to do so.
Gates also told the court that Manafort had been operating as an unregistered foreign agent while working as a lobbyist for former pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Washington Post reports that “even while he was committing crimes with his boss, he was also stealing from him”. Gates confessed to taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from Manafort and others over the years.
CNN says that admission by Gates will be central to Manafort’s defence strategy, with the former Trump campaign chairman’s legal team “arguing during opening statements that he embezzled millions of dollars from Manafort and then turned against him under pressure from Mueller”.
-
US tipped to help Kyiv strike Russian energy sites
Speed Read Trump has approved providing Ukraine with intelligence for missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
-
Netanyahu agrees to Trump’s new Gaza peace plan
Speed Read At President Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they agreed upon a plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of Taiwan
In the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdown
IN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
The dark history of myths about immigrants eating swans and pets
In the Spotlight Nigel Farage has mimicked Donald Trump and peddled tropes and rumours that have long been used to ‘dehumanise’ immigrants
-
What would happen if Israel lost America’s support?
Today’s big question Loss of US backing could be a ‘catastrophe’ for Israel
-
Charlie Kirk, Jimmy Kimmel and free speech
Talking Point TV host’s cancellation and Trump administration’s threats to media have led to accusations of Maga hypocrisy
-
Denmark’s record-setting arms purchase raises eyebrows and anxiety
IN THE SPOTLIGHT By eschewing American-made munitions for their European counterparts, the Danish government is bracing for Russian antagonism and sending a message to the West