23 February 2018•Update: 24 February 2018
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
A former Donald Trump campaign aide is expected to plead guilty later Friday to charges by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and possibly cooperate with the ongoing investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Rick Gates is expected to appear before District Judge Amy Berman Jackson at the federal courthouse in Washington, DC later Friday
The plea could indicate Gates is planning to cooperate with the investigation against long-time associate and Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, or other top campaign officials.
Mueller's probe has been gaining traction, indicting 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities last week for allegedly working to undermine the U.S. democratic process.
On Wednesday, Mueller added a bevy of fresh charges against Manafort and Gates
In all, a federal grand jury in Virginia returned a 32-count indictment, including 16 counts related to providing false individual income tax returns, seven counts of failure to report foreign bank accounts, five counts of bank fraud conspiracy and four counts of bank fraud.
Gates and Manafort were charged with money laundering last year tied to their work for Ukrainian interests.
It is unclear which charges Gates will be pleading guilty to Friday or what he would provide to the special counsel's investigation.
