It is SUCH a bad idea to lie to Robert Mueller.

Courtesy of CNN: 

A Dutch lawyer tied to former Trump deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates who admitted to lying to special counsel Robert Mueller's team was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in prison and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine. 

Alex van der Zwaan is the first person to be sentenced in Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. 

He pleaded guilty to lying to Mueller's team in February and faced up to six months in prison. 

Earlier Tuesday, Van der Zwaan's attorneys begged for no jail time for their client, who mostly sat with pursed lips, slouched at the defense table. 

He did say a few sentences of contrition that he read from a paper. 

"What I did was wrong," he uttered. He also apologized. 

Van der Zwaan covered up his discussions with Gates and a business associate based in Ukraine in September 2016, while the Trump campaign operation was in full swing. He also admitted to lying to investigators about his failure to turn over email communications to the special counsel's office and to his law firm as it cooperated with Mueller on its investigation of Gates' and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's foreign lobbying.

This is the FIRST guy to be sentenced, but I am guessing he is far from the LAST guy to be sentenced.

I wonder who else might soon be a bunk mate of his?

So what is going on with Paul Manafort and Rick Gates? Well as it turns out quite a bit.

Courtesy of Politico:

Though it is a virtual given that Gates will sell out his business partner and Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, less understood is the direct threat Gates could pose to President Donald Trump.

While Gates now wears a GPS monitor around his ankle, in 2016 he wore a Secret Service lapel pin that gave him easy access to Trump on the campaign trail and at Trump Tower. 

“He saw everything,” said a Republican consultant who worked with Gates during the campaign. The consultant called Gates one of the “top five” insiders whom Mueller could have tapped as a cooperative government witness. One defense attorney in the case said Gates’ plea has triggered palpable alarm in Trump world.

Manafort may have struck a larger public profile, but Gates spent more time in Trump’s orbit. Manafort left the Trump campaign under a cloud of scandal in mid-August 2016. Gates, his right-hand man, stayed on through the election before assisting the Trump inauguration and Trump’s early presidency. 

Worst of all for the White House, Gates lacks hard-wired loyalty. He is not family, like Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., or his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Nor is he among true Trump believers like Corey Lewandowski and Brad Parscale. 

“Let’s be honest, Don Jr. is not ratting out his dad. Gates is different,” said Paul Rosenzweig, who served as a senior counsel to Whitewater independent counsel Ken Starr.

Yeah, while we are all distracted by the Stormy Daniels' three ring circus, the truly damaging evidence to the Trump presidency might be filling the notebooks of Mueller's investigators as we speak.

As for Paul Manafort well he is still trying to get the case against him dismissed.

Courtesy of Axios:

Paul Manafort's legal team has filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, filed in Virginia, brought against him by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which includes three charges for tax fraud from 2010 to 2014, failing to file reports from his foreign bank accounts, and bank fraud related to various property loans in the U.S.

This follows a nearly identical motion to dismiss his team filed on March 14, which dealt with the charges brought against him in D.C. 

Manafort's legal team argues that the charges do not “arise directly from” the Special Counsel’s investigation. His team argues that they cover things Manafort disclosed to the DOJ himself in 2014. They also write that Mueller's team acted outside of its authority, “without the discipline of limits on the public resources they consume," according to the document.

This will likely be just as unsuccessful as the last one, but it shows that Paul Manafort has a lot to hide and that he is desperate to keep it hidden from Mueller's team.

There is a lot of speculation as to what Manafort is guarding to aggressively, but there might have been a hint revealed just recently.

This new Mueller filing says Trump’s campaign chair *and* deputy campaign manager *knew* their associate was a former Russian intelligence officer. As they say in court, Um. https://t.co/oPyGU1Fnl7

— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) March 28, 2018

Well now, isn't THAT interesting?

Axios gets its hands on Robert Mueller's hit list, and it's a doozy.

Yep, I'm still coming.

Courtesy of Axios:  

What Mueller is asking for: Mueller is subpoenaing all communications — meaning emails, texts, handwritten notes, etc. — that this witness sent and received regarding the following people: 

1. Carter Page 
2. Corey Lewandowski 
3. Donald J. Trump 
4. Hope Hicks 
5. Keith Schiller 
6. Michael Cohen 
7. Paul Manafort 
8. Rick Gates 
9. Roger Stone 
10. Steve Bannon 

The subpoena asks for all communications from November 1, 2015, to the present. Notably, Trump announced his campaign for president five months earlier — on June 16, 2015.

Ga-damn! Mueller is definitely not fooling around.

Take a look at how many of those on this list are no longer workign in the White House, and how many never even made it that far.

And you KNOW that Mueller has already gained access to these records from Rick Gates, Steve Bannon, and Carter Page.

I heard on cable new this morning that it appears Mueller is approaching this much the same way he did while investigating organized crime families.

Seems appropriate.

By the way it is clearly getting to Trump, who tweeted this out this morning.

Why did the Obama Administration start an investigation into the Trump Campaign (with zero proof of wrongdoing) long before the Election in November? Wanted to discredit so Crooked H would win. Unprecedented. Bigger than Watergate! Plus, Obama did NOTHING about Russian meddling.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2018

Not only is that completely inaccurate but it also indicates that Trump is freaking the hell out.

Multiple charges against former Trump campaign consultant Rick Gates dropped. Ah the benefits of cooperating with the Robert Mueller investigation.

Courtesy of Politico: 

Former Donald Trump campaign deputy Rick Gates is quickly discovering that cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller has its advantages. 

The lead Russia investigator asked a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia Tuesday to dismiss a series of criminal charges against Gates, including tax and bank fraud, in exchange for his guilty plea and testimony in the wider probe into the 2016 presidential election. 

Gates also secured another win on Tuesday when a different judge granted his request to take his children to Boston next week for their spring break — well outside the 110-mile corridor between his home in Richmond and Washington that he’d previously been confined to for his travels. 

The additional leniency comes after Gates agreed to a plea deal last Friday with Mueller that stipulates he must cooperate “in any and all matters” that the special counsel’s office decides are “relevant.”

Well this is certainly not something you get for nothing, so Gates must be singing a very entertaining tune for Mueller and his investigators.

And THAT does not bode well for Paul Manafort, who so far has stubbornly refused to cooperate. 

But how long can he really hold out at this point?

All I know is that if I were Donald Trump I would be tossing and turning at night.

Robert Mueller hands out new tax and bank fraud charges to Paul Manafort and Rick Gates. Update!

Courtesy of Bloomberg:  

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his onetime deputy, Rick Gates, were indicted on tax and bank fraud charges as U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller mounted a fresh attack to strengthen his legal pressure against the men. Mueller used a new 32-count indictment in Alexandria, Virginia, to raise the legal stakes against the duo, who were initially indicted on Oct. 27 in Washington on charges of laundering millions of dollars and failing to register as foreign agents for their political consulting work over a decade in Ukraine.

The second indictment complicates the legal defense for both men and appears to signal that plea negotiations have been fruitless. Gates had been weighing a guilty plea, according to several reports. Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, has charged a total of 19 people and picked up the tempo of his public actions in recent days. 

“Manafort and Gates generated tens of millions of dollars in income as a result of their Ukraine work,” the new indictment said. “From approximately 2006 through the present, Manafort and Gates engaged in a scheme to hide income from United States authorities, while enjoying the use of the money.” 

The men are accused of filing false tax returns in each year from 2010 to 2014, and of conspiring to defraud three banks of more than $22 million through loans secured by Manafort’s properties. At one bank, a conspirator helped in the fraud, the indictment said. It also charged that as their political consulting income dwindled in Ukraine in 2014 and 2015, Manafort and Gates defrauded banks to allow Manafort “to have the benefits of liquid income without paying taxes on it.”

Apparently part of the evidence used against these two idiots is an email of Manafort asking Gates to convert a fraudulent document from a word file to a pdf.

Y'all I'm dying, Manafort created an incriminating paper trail because he needed someone to help him convert a Word doc to PDF. pic.twitter.com/CTE4oV7zj0

— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) February 22, 2018

Pair of real geniuses here.

Speaking of geniuses this kind of makes me wonder just HOW MUCH incriminating evidence that Mueller has compiled to use in this investigation.

I mean he started out with indictments against Manafort and Gates accusing them of conspiracy, and when they failed to cooperate he simply indicts them on tax and bank fraud charges like it's nothing.

One has to wonder what else he has in the chamber if Manafort continues to hold out on him?

(You can read these new indictments here.)

Update: Well that was quick.

Gates has now agreed to plead guilty.

Courtesy of NBC News:

Former campaign aide Rick Gates has agreed to plead guilty, becoming the third associate of President Donald Trump to make a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller, a source familiar with the proceedings told NBC News. 

Gates, who was indicted with former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort in October on conspiracy and other charges related to their lobbying work in Ukraine, is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Friday to enter the plea. 

The development comes a day after Mueller filed a new 32-count indictment against Gates and Manafort, hitting them with new charges of tax and bank fraud. It also follows a guilty plea by a Russia-linked lawyer who admitted he lied to investigators about his contacts with Gates.

And the dominoes just keep right on falling.

I think that once Mueller convinces Manafort to flip, that it is game over.

Update 2: Damn! Manafort just doubled down on his innocence.

NEW / Paul Manafort says Rick Gates did not have the “strength to continue the battle to prove our innocence” —> pic.twitter.com/2N3sDIDaqp

— Hallie Jackson (@HallieJackson) February 23, 2018

Okay somebody has definitely been offered a presidential pardon.

Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates will plead guilty to fraud related charges, and has agreed to testify against Paul Manafort.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Former Trump presidential campaign aide Rick Gates has agreed to testify against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and will plead guilty to fraud related charges, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

The Times reported Sunday a revised plea will be presented in federal court "within the next few days." 

CNN first reported last week that Gates was finalizing a plea deal and that he had been in plea negotiations with special counsel Robert Mueller's team for a month. 

Gates can expect "a substantial reduction in his sentence," to likely about 18 months in prison if he cooperates with the investigation, according to the LA Times report. He is also likely going to have to forfeit any cash or valuables obtained through his alleged illegal activity. 

Aside from the legal maneuvering, the father of four has faced personal and financial pressure to bring his legal proceedings to a speedy resolution, a person familiar with the situation told CNN.

Apparently Gates had hoped that wealthy GOP donors would have come to his rescue and donate to his defense fund, but since he is not a gun lobby or a candidate running for office, they simply could not be bothered.

I wrote about this on Friday, but now we know some of the details.

This of course ramps up pressure on Manafort who seems so far to be holding his ground, and maintains that he is not guilty of the charges against him.

Let's see how long that lasts now.

It looks like Robert Mueller has flipped another one.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Former Trump campaign adviser Rick Gates is finalizing a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller's office, indicating he's poised to cooperate in the investigation, according to sources familiar with the case. 

Gates has already spoken to Mueller's team about his case and has been in plea negotiations for about a month. He's had what criminal lawyers call a "Queen for a Day" interview, in which a defendant answers any questions from the prosecutors' team, including about his own case and other potential criminal activity he witnessed. 

Gates' cooperation could be another building block for Mueller in a possible case against President Donald Trump or key members of his team. 

Once a plea deal is in place, Gates would become the third known cooperator in Mueller's sprawling probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. It would also increase the pressure to cooperate on Gates' co-defendant Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, who has pleaded not guilty to Mueller's indictment and is preparing for a trial on alleged financial crimes unrelated to the campaign. Gates pleaded not guilty on October 30 alongside Manafort.

That "Queen for a Day" expression was explained last night on the Rachel Maddow show, as being an arrangement where the subject HAS to tell the absolute truth about everything, knowing that he will not be prosecuted for the things that he personally confesses to, unless he attempts to walk back his statements later.

So that means that Gates in in a box, and his only chance of avoiding significant jail time is to cooperate fully with the investigation, and testify in court.

This also means that Paul Manafort is in a corner, and that if he does not also flip, he will definitely be seeing the insides of a prison cell.

I think it is beyond clear at this point that Mueller has built a strong case against Trump, and is now closing in.

First up in the Mueller indictment sweepstakes is former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his business associate. Update!

WATCH: Paul Manafort walking into FBI headquarters with his attorney. pic.twitter.com/Ebo1jPZqUH

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) October 30, 2017

Courtesy of the New York Times:

Paul Manafort surrendered to federal authorities Monday morning, after a person close to the case said the first charges were filed in a special counsel investigation. 

The charges against Mr. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, were not immediately clear but represent a significant escalation in a special counsel investigation that has cast a shadow over the president’s first year in office. Also charged was Mr. Manafort’s former business associate Rick Gates, who was also told to surrender on Monday, the person said. 

Mr. Manafort walked into the F.B.I.’s field office in Washington at about 8:15 a.m. with his lawyer. 

Mr. Gates is a longtime protégé and junior partner of Mr. Manafort. His name appears on documents linked to companies that Mr. Manafort’s firm set up in Cyprus to receive payments from politicians and businesspeople in Eastern Europe, records reviewed by The New York Times show. 

Mr. Manafort had been under investigation for violations of federal tax law, money laundering and whether he appropriately disclosed his foreign lobbying.

I think a lot of people were putting their money on Paul Manafort from the moment we first heard about these upcoming indictments.

This Rick Gates guy is a complete surprise to me but I was just watching MSNBC and they were  explaining how deeply involved he was with the Trump campaign, the planning of the inauguration, and a Trump SuperPac right up until the spring of this year.

So though he may not be a familiar name to most of us, he was in it up to his armpits.

These are clearly only the first indictments that the Mueller team has in the chamber, and we can only speculate as to who's up next.

However what this does show without a shadow of a doubt is that Robert Mueller did not come to play. He is going to take these criminals down one by one, and there is nothing that Trump or his associates can do to stop him.

Update: Sources are now saying that this indictment contains 12 counts focused on conspiracy and money laundering.

Update 2: According to the indictment this investigation has been going on for at least a year. Mueller was only assigned to be the Special Counsel since May.

Update 3: From CNN:  

The indictment against the Manafort and Gates 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. 

The charges do not cover any activities related to the campaign, though it's possible Mueller could add additional charges.

That part about adding additional charges is being echoed by essentially every news outlet besides Fox News right now. 

They're still waiting for the Hillary indictments to be handed down.