Rick Gates, a former Trump campaign official, pleaded guilty on Friday in special counsel Robert Mueller's case against him and former campaign manager Paul Manafort.
Gates pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against the United States and one count of making a false statement. Both counts were issued in a new superseding information on Friday.
According to the new information, Gates knowingly lied when he told the special counsel that Manafort, after a March 2013 meeting with a lobbyist and a member of Congress, had said that Ukraine had not been mentioned in the meeting. Not only was that statement never made, the information says, but Gates himself helped prepare a report describing the discussions on Ukraine that had taken place at that meeting.
That false statement was made on Feb. 1 — the same day Gates' legal counsel filed a motion to withdraw as his defense.
Gates also pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. by making false statements regarding his status as a foreign agent, a charge initially proffered in the first indictment from Oct. 27, 2017.
According to the sentencing guidelines, Gates could face nearly six years in prison. But the special counsel could petition the court to reduce his sentencing time, Reuters reported, based on his cooperation with investigators.