A former top adviser to President Donald Trump's election campaign has formally pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and false statements charges in the Russia investigation.

The plea by Rick Gates is a strong indication that he is planning to co-operate with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation as it continues to probe the Trump campaign, Russian election interference and Gates' longtime business associate Paul Manafort.

Forty-five-year-old Gates made the plea at the federal courthouse in Washington.

It comes a day after Gates and Manafort were indicted in Virginia on new charges of tax evasion and bank fraud. </s> Transcript for SPECIAL REPORT: Former Trump aide Rick Gates formally pleads guilty to two counts

This is an ABC news special. George Stephanopoulos. Good afternoon for those you watching general hospital it will be played in its entirety after this break we do have breaking news now it's in the Russian investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller. And we have learned that the former deputy campaign chairman of the charm campaign Rick gates. He's going to court you see him right there and is now pleading guilty. To two counts of conspiracy and false statements in the Russia prohibit indicted. Charged with several counts of fraud conspiracy against United States money laundering and false statements but he is decided now. To cooperate with the special counsel plead guilty to two counts want to get all the details now from our Chief Justice correspondent Pierre Thomas. That's right George Rick case former deputy campaign manager for president fox election Barrett is today pleading guilty. Two counts first he's pleading guilty for engaging in a conspiracy to defraud the United States government by not reporting foreign bank accounts that could be taxed. And failing to register as a foreign agent for work on behalf of Ukrainian officials who had close ties to the creme. Gates is also pleading guilty to one Gallup count of lying to the special counsel about the nature worked on for those Ukrainian officials. The special counsel office claimed to gates engaged in this conspiracy what Paul meant upward from former campaign chairman. Metaphor has pleaded not guilty but now one of its principal business partners is set to be a cooperative. Cooperating witness for the special counsel some that it could have enormous implications for management and and Pierre under the under the dozens of charges he was facing. A before today's plea agreement he could have faced years and years. In prison what you expect now. Well he faced at least up to twenty years in prison hundreds some of those previous charges but by our calculations he's looking at somewhere maximum. Between four and seven years in prison and torture that that's the maximum that's not necessary the recommendation. The special counsel Robert Mueller exactly we expect a he's going to cooperate George. That could give him much more lenient time as well OK if you're thanks for much cleaner chief legal analyst Dan Abrams right now the big question. This agreement what did he give to Robert Mueller to get it. That's right because they wouldn't have made this deal and less they felt gates had something very important to offer them. And some people are saying out there we have this is so they can help get manna for. Or his former boss but Mueller already had right right and so so Mo or may not add needed gates for man for. So that's what leads to the really interest in question which is. What else might gates be able to offer he was there. Leading up to the election he was there during the transition. He may be able to help Mueller put some of these pieces together with regard to the collusion that is the fundamental. Part of this K. And now we have three top officials three officials in the campaign who have all cooperative note Robert Mueller you've got Mike Flynn. The former NASA screen version that George puppet topless foreign policy advisor Rick Kate brigades deputy campaign chairman. And each one of them are going to be offering information that the special counsel feels is important not in some minor issue. But you make these kinds of deals because the special counsel thinks that they can offer information they can testify against certain people. They can offer times and dates and phone calls that are relevant to this investigation and speaking about I think it's important to note. That one of the two counts that gates is pleading guilty to. Is a false statement made this month just a couple weeks ago for one flat while they were trying to negotiate this deal. Which shows you that they are saying he was lying to us even as we were trying to figure out this the. And now there's a real major development in the rush investigation. Much more tonight on world news of David Muir have a good afternoon. This has been a special. For meetings. </s> Former campaign aide Rick Gates pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy and making a false statement, becoming the third associate of President Donald Trump to make a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller, NBC News reported.

The plea turns up the pressure on Paul Manafort, a close business associate of Gates who was the chairman of the Trump campaign. The two were indicted in October on conspiracy and other charges related to their lobbying work in Ukraine.

A criminal information filed ahead of the plea hearing says that between 2006 and 2007, Gates and others "conspired to defraud the United States by impeding impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful governmental functions of a government agency, namely the Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury."

In addition, he admits he lied about a March 19, 2013, meeting attended by Manafort, a lobbyist, and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, and that he falsely denied that Ukraine was discussed and that he was preparing a report for Ukraine's leadership. </s> WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC News) Former Trump campaign advisor Rick Gates pleaded guilty Friday to charges of lying to federal agents and conspiracy against the United States.

The plea is seen as a strong indication that Gates is prepared to testify against co-defendant and former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, a key target in the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Court documents say Gates hid tens of millions of dollars he earned from lobbying work for Ukraine.

His plea comes one day after Mueller increased the pressure to cooperate, filing additional charges of tax fraud and bank fraud against both Gates and Manafort.

Both were first indicted on conspiracy and other charges last October. Manafort says he continues to maintain his innocence, and none of the allegations are directly related to the campaign.

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 Note: By commenting below you agree to abide by the KOBI5.com commenting guidelines. View the KOBI5.com Comment Board Guidelines » </s> WASHINGTON, D.C. — A former top adviser to President Donald Trump’s election campaign has formally pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and false statements charges in the special counsel’s Russia investigation.

The plea by Rick Gates is a strong indication that he is planning to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation as it continues to probe the Trump campaign, Russian election interference and Gates’ longtime business associate, Paul Manafort.

The 45-year-old Gates made the plea at the federal courthouse in Washington. It comes a day after Gates and Manafort were indicted in Virginia on new charges of tax evasion and bank fraud. Manafort, who is Trump’s former campaign chairman, has said he is innocent. </s> Former Donald Trump campaign official Rick Gates will plead guilty Friday afternoon to two criminal charges in special counsel Robert Mueller's wide-ranging investigation of Russian meddling into the 2016 presidential campaign and related activities. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) – An attorney for a prominent law firm is pleading guilty to lying to federal authorities about his interactions with a former Trump campaign associate.

Alex van der Zwaan is entering the plea in federal court in Washington where he is admitting to lying to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators about his interactions with Rick Gates. Gates is a former aide on President Donald Trump’s campaign and a longtime associate of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

The charge against van der Zwaan does not involve election meddling or the Trump campaign’s operations. It stems from the special counsel’s investigation into a covert Washington lobbying campaign Manafort and Gates are accused of directing on behalf of pro-Russian Ukrainian interests.

Manafort and Gates have pleaded not guilty. </s> Paul Manafort and Rick Gates' case has added a new criminal charge or charges as of Wednesday, though whether the action is additional grand-jury approved indictments or indicates a coming a plea agreement remains a mystery.

A record-keeping book in the federal courthouse in Washington included a new sealed filing in Manafort and Gates' case, which was opened in late October when the former Trump campaign advisers pleaded not guilty to money laundering and failure to properly disclose their foreign lobbying work. The filing contained no additional information.

The filing could indicate additional indictments in the case, or it could be a type of charge called a criminal information, which would indicate an agreement between prosecutors and a defendant.

Prosecutors on Manafort's case said on Friday they found evidence of bank fraud and related conspiracies, for which Manafort had not been charged.

CNN has also reported that Gates has spoken to prosecutors about his case and has been negotiating a plea deal for more than a month. It's still unclear this week whether he is closer to finalizing an agreement. Both Manafort and Gates maintain their not guilty pleas.

A European lawyer who worked with Gates and Manafort years ago pleaded guilty Tuesday to lying to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators about his interactions with Gates and an unnamed Ukrainian.

Gates visited the federal courthouse just after 2 p.m. Wednesday to file paperwork in the clerk's office.

Gates' trial team is awaiting a judge's approval to exit the case, and defense lawyer Tom Green has been negotiating with prosecutors for a possible plea. The judge on his case has set a deadline for 5 p.m. for him to say what he'd like to do about his attorneys. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — A former top adviser to President Donald Trump’s election campaign pleaded guilty Friday to federal conspiracy and false-statements charges in the special counsel’s Russia investigation.

The plea by Rick Gates was a strong indication that he is planning to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation as it continues to probe the Trump campaign, Russian election interference and Gates’ longtime business associate, Paul Manafort.

Gates, 45, of Richmond, Virginia, made the plea at the Federal Courthouse in Washington.

A court filing shows Gates admitted to charges accusing him of conspiring against the U.S. government related to fraud and unregistered foreign lobbying as well as lying to federal authorities in a recent interview.

Gates’ plea came a day after a federal grand jury in Virginia returned a 32-count indictment against him and Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, accusing them of tax evasion and bank fraud.

The indictment in Virginia was the second round of charges against Gates and against Manafort, who has denied any wrongdoing. The two men were initially charged last October with unregistered lobbying and conspiring to launder millions of dollars they earned while working on behalf of a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party.

Gates’ decision marks the fifth publicly known guilty plea in the special counsel probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin during the 2016 campaign.

The plea also comes quickly on the heels of the stunning indictment last week that laid out a broad operation of election meddling by Russia, which began in 2014, and employed fake social media accounts and on-the-ground politicking to promote Trump’s campaign, disparage Hillary Clinton and sow division and discord widely among the U.S. electorate.

The charges to which Gates is pleading guilty don’t involve any conduct connected to the Trump campaign. They largely relate to a conspiracy laid out in his indictments, but they do reveal that Gates is accused of lying to the FBI during an interview earlier this month.

The court papers accuse Gates of lying about a March 19, 2013, meeting involving Manafort, a lobbyist and a member of Congress. Gates said the meeting did not include discussion of Ukraine, when in fact prosecutors say it did.

The charges don’t name the lobbyist or the lawmaker but filings with the Justice Department show Manafort and lobbyist Vin Weber of Mercury Public Affairs met with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., on that date as part of an effort on behalf of Ukrainian interests.

Gates’ lawyers filed a motion this month indicating they had reached “irreconcilable differences” with him. His new lawyer, veteran Washington white-collar attorney Thomas Green, formally took over Thursday. Green did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

As Gates was kept on house arrest, he frequently pleaded with U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson for leniency to attend sporting events with his four children. His court filings gradually began to show the strain the case was placing on him and his family.

On Thursday night, Gates emailed a brief letter to friends and family, telling them of his decision to plead guilty, Republican lobbyist Jack Burkman said.

“It’s sad,” said Burkman, who had hosted a fundraiser for Gates’ legal defense fund.

Also Friday, Gates asked a judge’s permission to travel with his children to Boston for spring break so they could “learn about American history in general, and the Revolutionary War in particular.”

Depending upon the terms of his plea agreement, Gates could become a key cooperator for Mueller with intimate knowledge of Manafort’s years of political consulting work in Ukraine, as well as other events that have sparked the interest of federal investigators.

Gates had access at the highest levels of the campaign at the same time that Manafort, Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner met with a team of Russians in Trump Tower in June 2016. He was also in the top ranks of the campaign when then-Sen. Jeff Sessions held a pair of undisclosed meetings with Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.

For a few months in 2016, Gates was indispensable to Trump, leading the ground effort to help Trump win the Republican nomination and flying from state to state to secure Republican delegates in a scramble that lasted all the way until the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

But his power and influence waned once Trump fired Manafort in August 2016 after The Associated Press disclosed how Gates and Manafort covertly directed a Washington lobbying campaign on behalf of Ukrainian interests.

Gates survived his mentor’s ouster and worked through the election on Trump’s inaugural committee — but among Trump aides he earned the nickname “the walking dead.” Gates also worked briefly with the outside political groups supporting Trump’s agenda, America First Policies and America First Action, but was pushed out of that job last year.

Gates was working for Tom Barrack, a close friend of Trump’s, when he was indicted last October.
Rick Gates pleads guilty to charges of conspiracy against the United States and making false statements, and agrees to cooperate with the Special Counsel investigation.