Indictee Rick Gates has flipped on Trump — Is Manafort Next?
Forget the “Nunes Memo.” Here’s big news about Richard W. “Rick” Gates III, longtime business associate of Paul Manafort who, together with Manafort, was indicted in October 2017 by Special Counsel Robert Mueller on charges related to their consulting work with political figures in Ukraine. Per Politico:
Three attorneys representing Rick Gates told a federal court Thursday they are immediately withdrawing as counsel for the former Donald Trump campaign aide, who is fighting special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of him on money laundering and other charges.
Lawyers Shanlon Wu, Walter Mack and Annemarie McAvoy said in a two-page motion that they would explain the reasons for their abrupt move in documents filed under seal with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“The document speaks for itself,” McAvoy told POLITICO, declining further comment.
ABC News’ Mike Levine, on his Twitter feed, reports:
Meanwhile, Tom Green, a lawyer known for hammering out plea deals, stays on as counsel for Gates. Green represented clients in the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals, and he has a long record of navigating complex white collar cases with legal and political elements. He most recently represented disgraced House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
You don’t need to be a critic for the New York Review of Books to read between the lines: Gates has flipped on Trump. Twitterata “Alt _ Sean Spicer’s Mic” has a contact on the scene, and…
Deal cut & Gates flipped 100%
Green just left SCO Mueller’s Office like 10 minutes ago and was there for hours toady— Alt_SeanSpicer’sMic🎙🤦🏻♀️🎙 (@Alt_Spicerlies) February 1, 2018
Sidley Austin😬 is Tom Green’s firm and FTR he was retained 20 days ago +/- 1 day or so.
From what I hear Wu was PISSED but then again wasn’t serving his client, so there’s that turd nugget.
Also Green is possibly one of if not THE Best DMV white collar litigators. https://t.co/1p3GPw0yX8— Alt_SeanSpicer'sMic🎙🤦🏻♀️🎙 (@Alt_Spicerlies) February 2, 2018
[DMV is La Spicey’s acronym for DC-Maryland-Virginia, not the Department of Motor Vehicles.]
Manafort may want to make his move quickly.
UPDATE: How did this slip past us all?
Donald Trump is telling friends and aides in private that things are going great — for him.
Some reasons: He’s decided that a key witness in the Russia probe, Paul Manafort, isn’t going to “flip” and sell him out, friends and aides say.
Which means…
BREAKING: Less than 48 hours ago, an NBC report few noticed revealed that Trump thinks Manafort has info that could incriminate him. (Were that not the case, Trump wouldn’t—per aides and friends—fear Manafort “flipping” on him.)
(h/t @emptywheel/@anthony) https://t.co/I0Q7QpmPkA
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) February 2, 2018
BREAKING: Less than 48 hours ago, an NBC report few noticed revealed that Trump thinks Manafort has info that could incriminate him. (Were that not the case, Trump wouldn’t—per aides and friends—fear Manafort “flipping” on him.)
(h/t @emptywheel/@anthony) https://t.co/I0Q7QpmPkA
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) February 2, 2018
3/ Moreover, given when Manafort was fired—and given when Trump says he stopped speaking to him—there’s no reason at all to think Manafort can incriminate Trump on Obstruction. So Trump’s fear that Manafort will “flip” on him has to do with a Conspiracy charge relating to Russia.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) February 2, 2018
