Judge Amy Berman Jackson released Rick Gates from prison this week, after testifying against his friends and being convicted for lying, and his story about Secret Service witnesses and other statements in his bombastic testimony against Roger Stone is under scrutiny.
USA Today reported,” Jackson said Gates’ cooperation with prosecutors was an important public service. Gates testified in three cases already and maybe more, sometimes against friends and former colleagues and partners. … He was forthcoming about his own lies and wrongdoing.”
Gates was the deputy Trump Presidential campaign manager in March 2016 and became deputy chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee.
Gates, who was convicted for lying, said at Stone’s trial that he overheard a phone conversation between Stone and then Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump in early August 2016 while riding in an SUV on the way to LaGuardia Airport.
According to USA Today, “Prosecutors charged that Stone lied to Congress about his knowledge of the release of stolen emails during the 2016 campaign. Gates recounted overhearing a phone conversation between Stone and then-candidate Trump in July 2016, when Gates was part of the campaign. After Trump hung up, he told Gates, more information is coming [Gates said].”
Gates says two Secret Service Agents were in the car-in the second back seat and were his witnesses to these events.
There were two secret service agents in the car that can back Gates up about the call https://t.co/b0gqMsJQHc
Oddly, Gates said he was in the third back seat but claims he saw Stone’s name pop-up on Trump’s cell phone when Trump was in the front seat.
Stone said cell phone ID does not bear his name.
Gates admits he could not hear the conversation but he was positive it was about Wikileaks.
CNBC reported, Gates said, “I did not hear the content of the call.”
Trump denied ever talking to Stone about Wikileaks in written responses to Mueller.
In a written response to special counsel Robert Mueller, Trump said, “I do not recall discussing WikiLeaks with” Stone, “nor do I recall Mr. Stone having discussed WikiLeaks with my campaign.”
According to POLITICO, Gates admitted that Stone was merely predicting events and reading public statements by Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, who hosted a stockpile of emails from Hillary R. Clinton and John Podesta.
“The brainstorming meetings [over WIKILEAKS] were based in part on a combination of both Stone’s predictions and Assange’s public comments about forthcoming releases, Gates said,” POLITICO reported.
Stone denies ever talking to Trump about Wikileaks on Meet the Press and said he was predicting events and reading public statements.
Watch:
The government provided no corroborating testimony from any secret service agents.
The government provides NO telephone record to show any such call ever happened.
Gates was charged with assisting Manafort in a years-long scheme to hide millions of dollars of income from foreign governments. Prosecutors charged that many of their crimes were related to work they did for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
Gates pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making false statements about his status as a foreign agent. Both are felonies.
The rest of the charges were dropped.
In the end, Rick Gates got a 45-day sentence for the same crimes Paul Manafort got 7 years for, and Rick Gates is released from Prison over COVID-19 concerns.
Roger Stone has been ordered to prison next Thursday.
As a reminder, Manafort’s and Gates’ convictions relate to past business events and have nothing to do with Trump, his campaign, his businesses or his family.
