Rick Gates Flips on Manafort, Says They Committed Crimes Together

Rick Gates flipped on his former business partner Paul Manafort Monday, testifying in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, that he committed crimes with the onetime Trump campaign chairman. When asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney Uzo Asonye if he was involved in any criminal activity with Manafort, Gates reportedly responded “yes.” When Azonye asked if he committed any crimes with Manafort, Gates said “yes” again. CNN reports that Gates then told prosecutors that he and Manafort had 15 overseas accounts that they did not report to federal prosecutors, and that he did not submit the required documentation for these accounts “at Mr. Manafort’s direction.” Gates also said that he had cheated Manafort out of “several hundred thousand” by submitting false expense reports. Earlier, Manafort’s defense implied that Gates embezzled “millions of dollars” from his accounts. This comes after Gates agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation as part of a plea deal. Manafort is on trial on bank and tax fraud charges.