Rick Gates, a former Trump campaign official and business associate of Paul Manafort's, has provided evidence to special counsel Robert Mueller's team that could be key to how long Manafort spends behind bars, Talking Point Memo reports.
Gates, the star witness in Mueller's fraud and conspiracy trial against Manafort, pleaded guilty in February to lying to investigators and conspiring against the United States. Manafort was found guilty of eight counts of tax and bank fraud in the Virginia federal criminal case and will be sentenced March 13 in Washington District court for similar charges.
Manafort agreed to plead guilty to the latter charges only days before his trial, and prosecutors agreed to consider recommending leniency base on his cooperation.
But the Justice Department said Manafort lied about payments and financial relationship to a law firm and about his dealings with his business associate Konstantin Kilimnik.
But Gates came forward with "new evidence" relevant to his former boss' communications with Kilimnik following media coverage of Manafort’s plea deal breach, according to TPM.
"The government does not believe that this new evidence should affect the Court's ruling that Manafort lied with respect to the subject matter area in general or its finding that Manafort lied REDACTED," prosecutors wrote in a heavily redacted court filing unsealed Wednesday.
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