Confirmed: Rick Gates is cutting a deal against Paul Manafort and Donald Trump
Last week, former Donald Trump campaign advisor Rick Gates sent a strong hint that he was preparing to cut a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller against his business associate Paul Manafort and, by extension, against Donald Trump. Gates hired a new attorney whose specialty is cutting such deals, and that attorney was seen meeting with Mueller’s people. Now today we have confirmation that Gates is cutting a deal for sure.
When Gates was first arrested, he needed a public defender because he was too broke to hire an attorney. To get a public defender you have to provide documents proving you’re broke, meaning Gates wasn’t faking it. But shortly thereafter, Gates suddenly had a high priced legal team defending him. Who was paying for these lawyers? Was it Manafort? Was it Trump? Was it Russia? It was clear that someone was taking care of it, in the hope that Gates wouldn’t flip.
Now those attorneys have all abruptly quit today, according to an ABC News report. This is a clear sign that Gates has decided for certain to cut a deal. Whoever has been providing Gates with these high-priced attorneys has clearly given up any hope of convincing him not to flip. This leaves Gates with just the attorney who has been meeting with Mueller. So we all know what comes next. The question is what happens when Gates does cut a deal.
Rick Gates and Paul Manafort have a long history of financial interests together. It will be easy for Gates to provide enough evidence to send Manafort to prison for the rest of his life. If Manafort was still hoping to beat the charges with his own high-priced attorneys, that hope will now end. Manafort will cut a deal against Trump. Considering that Manafort and Trump have financial entanglements including a condo in Trump Tower, it should be easy for Manafort to incriminate Trump for money laundering . This is in addition to the obstruction of justice charges that Mueller is aggressively pursuing against Trump.
