Rick Gates Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy and Lying to FBI
Gates's guilty plea adds to a pattern of criminal convictions among Trump's closest campaign associates. As deputy campaign chairman working directly under Manafort, Gates held a senior role. His subsequent cooperation with prosecutors as a government witness underscores the breadth of legal exposure within Trump's 2016 campaign leadership.
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Rick Gates, deputy chairman of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, pleaded guilty in February 2018 to conspiracy and lying to FBI investigators as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
Gates was indicted alongside campaign chairman Paul Manafort in October 2017. After entering a plea deal, Gates cooperated with prosecutors as a key government witness for nearly two years.
He was sentenced to 45 days in jail and three years of probation in December 2019.