Rick Gates asked to be exempt from house arrest so he could go to his kids' friends' birthday parties

Rick Gates, the business associate of President Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, is arguing that he should be released from house arrest so he can do things like, you know, take his kids to birthday parties.

Gates and Manafort were both arrested in October as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's sweeping probe, and the pair face a dozen charges, including financial crimes and conspiracy against the United States. Mueller's team believes Manafort and Gates are serious flight risks, and the pair are required to check in with authorities daily. Additionally, they are only allowed to leave their homes to meet with lawyers, appear in court, or for religious or medical reasons, Newsweek reports. Hence house arrest.

Nevertheless, Mueller's team writes that an optimistic Gates submitted a motion to "modify the conditions of his release," including to be allowed to leave "every weekday morning (to take his children to school); every weekday afternoon (for after school activities, including 'birthdays and other gatherings with classmates and friends'); on weekends; for holidays (including Christmas more than a month away); and to allow him to conduct his consulting business."

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Mueller was not amused. "The defendant makes this request without the posting of a single asset or the signature of a single surety" to meet his $5 million bail, Mueller's team wrote in a skeptical opposition, adding that Gates' actions to date are "not sufficient to warrant the modifications to his release conditions the defendant now seeks." Read the opposition below. Jeva Lange

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.