Day 284: Paul Manafort, Rick Gates — Both With Heavy Trump Ties — Indicted

Another aide previously pled guilty to lying to the FBI.

Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s campaign manager for a good chunk of 2016, was indicted for numerous financial crimes, along with his business associate, Rick Gates.

The indictment against the two men contains 12 counts: conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.

While no charges related to the Trump campaign were included in the indictments at this time, that could easily change moving forward. Furthermore, special counsel Robert Mueller may be using the pending indictments for future leverage against other members of Trump’s team.

Trump took the opportunity to deflect about his former campaign manager’s downfall.

Manafort was hired by Trump in 2016. A political outsider known more for his work in Eastern Europe over the preceding decades, many thought he was a strange pick at the time he was tapped to lead the campaign.

Despite the lack of direct connection of the indictments to Trump’s campaign, some people are pointing out why Trump shouldn’t breathe too easy just yet.

Gates, meanwhile, has been skulking around the White House for months, as the Daily Beast reported back in June.

Rick Gates, the longtime lobbying partner of ousted Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is still making multiple visits to the White House — even though the Trump administration has sought to distance itself from Manafort.

Manafort may be under investigation for alleged Russia ties, and thus persona non grata at the Trump White House. However, his top deputy Gates — who also worked on behalf of Russian interests — has managed to wedge himself back into Trump-world. having landed a sweet new gig with one of President Donald Trump’s best and wealthiest friends.

On top of all that, former Trump aide George Papadopolous pled guilty months ago to lying to the FBI during their investigation into the Russia case.

Preet Bharara, who is the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, thinks this is a substantial development.

Perhaps Trump should put the celebration dance on hold for a little while.

284 days in, 1178 to go

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