LEGAL/PAUL MANAFORT/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Rick Gates, a longtime business associate of U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, on Monday [8-6-18] testified at trial that he helped Manafort file false tax returns and hide his foreign bank accounts. Gates is expected to be the government’s star witness in its case against Manafort. Gates, who also served on Trump’s campaign, pleaded guilty in February and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors under a deal that could lead to a reduced sentence. Taking the stand on the trial’s fifth day, Gates admitted to helping Manafort doctor financial statements, hide sources of foreign income, mislead banks to get loans and cheat on his U.S. taxes. He said he did so at Manafort’s direction…Manafort’s attorneys have signaled they will seek to blame Gates and have accused him of embezzling millions of dollars from Manafort. Gates has been described by witnesses as Manafort’s right-hand man who helped run the operations of a multimillion-dollar political consulting business.”
-Nathan Layne, Sarah N. Lynch, Karen Freifeld, ” Star witness Gates testifies he committed crimes with Manafort, Reuters, August 6, 2018 3:06 am