Rick Rolling Gates

Never gonna give you up, probably
Never gonna let you down, but Bob Mueller’s counting on it
Never gonna run around and desert you, even though I got another passport
Never gonna make you cry, you big baby
Never gonna say goodbye, still got that passport
Never gonna tell a lie, I don’t have to, and hurt you, you might tweet me

• Rick Gates is a 45-year-old political consultant and lobbyist. He was deputy to Paul Manafort who was in charge of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
• Gates has been a protégé and partner to Manafort of and on for 20 years.
• Gates and Manafort pled not guilty to 12 counts that include
  • Conspiracy to launder money
  • Conspiracy against the U.S. unregistered agent of a foreign principal,
  • False statements, and
  • Failure of filing reports of financial accounts and foreign banks to the special counsel.
• According to the Washington Post, “None of the charges against Gates [connect him to] the main focus of Mueller’s investigation. But his nearly year-long presence in Trump’s orbit could make him a valuable witness, if he chooses to cooperate.
• He is considered a flight risk. He recently obtained a passport that was not turned over when he was charged (as was required.)
• Gates often flew to Moscow to meet with billionaire Russian Oligarch, Oleg Deripaska. (NY Times)
• After the 2007 financial crisis, Deripaska pursued Manafort and Gates, even petitioning against them in court alleging they owed him $19 million. His lawyer said Manafort and Gates “have simply disappeared.”
• Gates was aware of George Papadopoulos’ attempts to broker a meeting between Trump and Putin. Manafort emailed Gates: “we need someone to communicate that [Trump] is not doing these trips. It should be someone low level in the campaign so as not to send any signal.” Gates replied that he would get a low level aide for the correspondence.
• Gates remained in Trump’s circle even when after Manafort left due to increasing talk of his ties with Russians.

See More Dumpster Fire Kids:

• George Papadopoulos
• Paul Manafort

Sources

• Jeremy Herb, Evan Perez, Marshall Cohen, Pamela Brown and Shimon Prokupecz, (2017) Ex-Trump campaign adviser pleads guilty to making false statement, CNN
• Pete Williams and Adam Edelman (2017) Manafort, Gates Charged With Conspiracy in Mueller Investigation. NBC news
• Meg Wagner, Amanda Wills and Brian Ries, (2017) Paul Manafort and Rick Gates surrender to FBI: Live updates. CNN
• US judge issues gag order in Manafort, Gates, Russia Probe. Washington Post
• Rick Gates, Once the Man in the Corner is Now a Central Figure in Mueller Investigation. Washington Post