Rick Gates has given some explosive testimony on behalf of the prosecution and against Paul Manafort in court this week.
But yesterday he was on the stand with the cross examination and his already bad credibility took even more blows by Manafort’s defense team:
Defense: “Do you recall when you first started giving false and misleading information to the Office of the Special Counsel?”
Gates avoids directly answering the question – indicating how he was coached by the Special Counsel. pic.twitter.com/TQaX7r3Los
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 8, 2018
Manafort’s lawyer persists, and here we catch Rick Gates in his first lie:
“I didn’t provide false and misleading information to the Special Counsel’s office.”
Their star witness just committed perjury. pic.twitter.com/StPpnVSUC7
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 8, 2018
Defense: If you didn’t lie, then why did you plead guilty to providing false information?
Gates backtracks: “Under one instance I did.”
Judge Ellis calls Gates out: “Well, so previously, you said you didn’t provide false information.” pic.twitter.com/TonvdT7Ukg
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 8, 2018
Now Gates is blaming his “bad recollection” on why he pleaded guilty to lying to the Special Counsel. pic.twitter.com/53nqDOQ4vD
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 8, 2018
The patience of Judge Ellis is wearing thin.
Judge: “You just said you just had a bad memory. Did you provide false information or did you have just a bad memory?”
Gates: “Your Honor, I provided false information to the Special Counsel prior to my plea agreement.” pic.twitter.com/TRmnOZ158P
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 8, 2018
Who confronted Gates about his lies?
The equally crooked Andrew Weissmann. The Special Counsel was in a bind and had to charge their witness with lying or they’d lose all credibility with the jury. pic.twitter.com/ANbLMKQj16
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 8, 2018
Remember Gates blaming his memory on why he was charged with lying to the Special Counsel?
Manafort’s lawyer now gets him to admit that he “knowingly and intentionally lied.” pic.twitter.com/maj8z9U2LI
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 8, 2018
Now Manafort’s lawyer goes for blood.
Defense: After all the lies you told and fraud you’ve committed, you expect this jury to believe you?
Gates: Yes.
Defense: Uncorroborated?
Gates: Yes. pic.twitter.com/5IOleZAaRl
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 8, 2018
Defense: Can you return the money you stole from Manafort?
Gates: No, I cannot.
Defense: So you’re really not taking responsibility, are you?
Gates: On that subject, no.
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 8, 2018
Last set of questioning before the day wrapped up.
Gates: “Mr. Manafort was very good about knowing where the money is and knowing where to spend it.”
Judge Ellis: “Well, he missed the amounts of money you stole from him, though, didn’t he?”
/end pic.twitter.com/Z2a2D3twUJ
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 8, 2018
Sounds like Gates is a lying weasel. And he’s also a scumbag. Here’s more on that:
It’s also now being reported that Gates admitted today that Manafort told him to be honest to the FBI about the off-shore accounts back in 2014:
The star witness in Paul Manafort’s financial fraud trial says the former Trump campaign chairman told him to be truthful about offshore shell companies and bank accounts during a 2014 interview with the FBI.
Rick Gates said under questioning from Manafort’s lawyer Wednesday that he told FBI agents and Justice Department lawyers about some of the offshore companies that contained millions of dollars in proceeds from their Ukrainian political work.
The lawyer, Kevin Downing, was trying to counter earlier testimony that Manafort had encouraged Gates to deceive authorities by directing him to help conceal his foreign income and to submit phony mortgage and tax documents on his behalf.
The interview was part of an FBI investigation that sought to recover assets looted from the Ukrainian government under the rule of former President Viktor Yanukovych. Prosecutors have noted that Gates and Manafort were not the targets of the investigation at the time of the interview.
Defense lawyers wrapped up their questioning of Gates Wednesday following a bruising cross-examination that focused on Gates’s own crimes, an extramarital affair and a guilty plea with special counsel Robert Mueller’s office that may spare him severe punishment.
I would like to wrap up this post with a point that Andy McCarthy made on Fox News this morning about Gates:
The problem Manafort has is that Mueller indicted this whole case before he got Gates as a cooperator, so he was prepared to prove the whole case. And all I think Gates is doing is tightening up Mueller’s proof on the intent requirement for these charges. As far as all the acts of fraud are concerned, they’re not reliant on Gates for that. They had that proof before he ever took the stand.
That’s a good point. Still, it sounds like ‘intent’ is a big deal, which is why Mueller risked a lot to bring Gates as his key witness in the first place. And which is why Manafort’s defense team are trying very hard to point out just how un-credible Gates really is.
You can watch McCarthy’s full interview below: