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.
Great news amidst all the NRA sanctioned death and destruction in Florida.
ReplyDeleteMueller indictment of Russians starts to fill out the other side. Next: who are the actors in this country. The contours of the conspiracy are starting to be detailed. This is hugely significant.
ReplyDeleteEric Holder
https://twitter.com/EricHolder/status/964567875846483969
While I applaud Mueller's focus and tenacity, his report will be concluded just about the time Trump is leaving office in 2020. In other words, it's a great exercise in investigation and the resulting papers will reveal the extent of the corruption but it will be too late to save America from these traitorous bastards. Pruitt will have three years to destroy our environment, Zinke will sell off or destroy all of our public lands and parks, DeVos will have destroyed our Public School System, Mulvaney will have choked off the social safety net and all of them, including Trump will have bankrupted the Secret Service and sucked up billions in tax payer dollars to support their frivolous lifestyles and to pad their personal wallets.
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. will never recover the respect or status in the world that it had. That is gone forever. The U.S. president is no longer the leader of the free world, no matter who attains that office in the future. Trump has destroyed that forever.
The Democrats would need more than one or two terms to fix the mess and I doubt the voters will give it to them. The voters are too fickle, have zero retention/memory and too impatient to wait for the fix. They want it instantly and when they don't get it, they'll turn back to the very ones that caused it in the first place and swallow a whole new set of lies.
What we need is a Democratic majority in both houses, plus the Oval office for a minimum of 8 terms. 16 years.
That isn't going to happen.
But that's how long it will take to fix the damage and make it clear that our under a Democratic U.S. government the American people, the nation and the world is in a better position to survive.
I just hope most of our endangered wildlife, our air and water, our land and parks can survive three years of Trump's asshole cabinet.
GOTV 2018, mialuppa. At least we can lessen the damage.
DeleteTrump will undoubtedly tweet that, SEE !?! there was no collusion! But remember, the statement read out this AM said, "this particular indictment" -- "particular" being the operative word, but as Trump doesn't read or doesn't comprehend well -- nor will his enablers tell him -- this is a small piece of the huge Russian pie, very small. Just the opening wedge...
ReplyDeleteHoly Moley, look what Mueller did! He indicted 13 Russians for meddling in the 2016 election.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.yahoo.com/news/13-russian-nationals-charged-mueller-investigation-180554016--politics.html
"Thirteen Russians, including a businessman close to Vladimir Putin, were charged Friday in an elaborate plot to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election through social media propaganda, aimed in part at helping Republican Donald Trump and harming the prospects of his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.
The federal indictment, brought by the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, represents the most direct allegation to date of illegal Russian meddling during the campaign that sent Trump to the White House. It also marks the first criminal charges against Russians believed to have secretly worked to influence the outcome."
Looks like Trump flipped another one too.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/donald-trump-affair-playboy-model-104202573.html
"The story may attract attention not for the revelation that President Trump was involved in an affair before he was elected to the office, but for its presentation of details of how he kept such relationships quiet and how he attempted to buy the silence of the women with whom he interacted. Central to these efforts were the close relationship that Trump maintained with American Media, Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer. The gossip publication paid McDougal $150,000 for the exclusive rights to the story of her affair with Trump, but killed the piece. It also contracted her to write a fitness column. And the piece claims the company has approached McDougal about extending her agreement after news broke that Stormy Daniels had been paid not to discuss her own alleged affair with the president.
“It took my rights away,” McDougal told Farrow. “At this point, I feel I can’t talk about anything without getting into trouble, because I don’t know what I’m allowed to talk about. I’m afraid to even mention his name.”"
"During the affair, Trump also took pains to avoid leaving a paper trail. When he would travel with McDougal, he would have her book and pay for her own flights before reimbursing her.
Trump was obsessed with his accomplishments, sending McDougal favorable articles about his businesses and showering her with merchandise from his golf courses, according to Farrow’s article. The nine-month affair with McDougal ended in April 2007. Trump was married to his current wife, Melania, during the time."
So, serial adulterer. Will the Talibangelicals give him another Mulligan? What about when the truth about Hope Hicks comes out?
ot FL School Gunman Was 'A Very Good Shot' In NRA-Sponsored Rifle Team
ReplyDeletehttps://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/florida-high-school-shooter-rifle-team-nra
Porter would be working in the White House right now if not for Colbie Holderness' photo and the Daily Mail post. We have no clue what will be next. Mueller's investigation may take too many years. The other scandals, who knows? They could be expeditious.
The FBI reportedly obtained photos of the bruised face of Colbie Holderness, the first ex-wife of Rob Porter, just 7 days after Trump's inauguration last year.
Ex-wife's photos raise questions about McGahn's role in Porter scandal
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/964336044291305474
Gun violence researchers have found that after the assault weapons ban expired, there was a 183% INCREASE in gun massacres and a 239% INCREASE in gun massacre deaths. #GunReformNow
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/SenFeinstein/status/964645568185122816
The NRA and the GOP are child killers
ReplyDeleteThat goes for EVERY NRA member. Supporters of the GOP support killing children.
Blood on their hands. EVERY single one of them.
Republicans are the party of the ignorant, the uneducated, religious zealots, and sociopaths. Hillary was being polite when she called them deplorable. They are hideous evil fuckers.
DeleteLet's all agree with Willow Palin when she said it's SO wrong for all the kids to automatically think the recent school shooter was a specific person and they did nothing up to that point about him. She said if someone shows signs of a potential future issue, it is crucial people act in proactive ways.
ReplyDelete