A source told CNN that Mueller pushed for deputy campaign manager for Trump Rick Gates’ help making the collusion connection in the Trump Russia probe.
“Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team last year made clear it wanted former Trump campaign deputy Rick Gates’ help, not so much against his former business partner Paul Manafort, but with its central mission: investigating the Trump campaign’s contact with the Russians. New information disclosed in court filings and to CNN this week begin to show how they’re getting it.”
“… Mueller alleges that Gates was in contact with a close colleague of Manafort’s who worked for a Russian intelligence agency — and that Gates knew of the spy service ties in September and October 2016, while he worked on the Trump campaign. Gates would have to talk about the communication with the man if prosecutors wanted, according to his plea deal.”
Earlier Thursday, Reuters reported that Mueller’s team has been asking about a convention-related event attended by both Russia’s U.S. ambassador and now A.G. Jeff Sessions.
Reuters reported a source saying that Mueller’s team has also been asking whether Sessions had private discussions with Kislyak at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel in April 2016.
These threads all go to more than connection. We have the connection and we have the communication established.
Mueller is going for the collusion proof and in Gates he has a witness who agreed to cooperate with the special counsel and in return had several charges dropped in two criminal cases against him, although he pled guilty to conspiracy against the United States.
POLITICO reported at the time of Gates’ plea agreement, “‘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.”
Gates was also on working on the Trump campaign team during the infamous Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 between senior campaign aides and a Russian lawyer.
This is how a brilliant lawyer puts together a solid case on an American presidential candidate working with a hostile foreign power to get elected.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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