Rick Gates Reportedly Close to Deal with Mueller

In January, I noted a report by Katelyn Polantz at CNN that former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates, who was arrested and charged with his longtime associate Paul Manafort in October, was thought to be negotiating a deal with Special Counsel Bob Mueller's team.

[Content Note: Video may autoplay at link] Last night, Polantz and her colleague Sara Murray broke the news that, according to sources close to the investigation, Gates is now close to finalizing a plea deal.

Gates has already spoken to Mueller's team about his case and has been in plea negotiations for about a month. He's had what criminal lawyers call a "Queen for a Day" interview, in which a defendant answers any questions from the prosecutors' team, including about his own case and other potential criminal activity he witnessed.

Gates' cooperation could be another building block for Mueller in a possible case against [Donald] Trump or key members of his team.

Once a plea deal is in place, Gates would become the third known cooperator in Mueller's sprawling probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. It would also increase the pressure to cooperate on Gates' co-defendant Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, who has pleaded not guilty to Mueller's indictment and is preparing for a trial on alleged financial crimes unrelated to the campaign.

That's the horror scenario for Team Trump. If Gates rolls on Manafort, Manafort's case gets a hell of a lot tougher, which makes rolling on Trump a hell of a lot more appealing.

And if there's one thing we all know about Paul Manafort, it's that he ain't loyal to anyone but himself.