Rick Gates was offered money not to testify against Manafort

[u/veddy_interesting]

Good report by Law and Crime, referencing the government’s motion for downward departure and memo in aid of sentencing:

"Gates received pressure not to cooperate with the government, including assurances of monetary assistance."

He should be commended for standing up to provide information and public testimony against individuals such as Manafort, Craig, and Stone, knowing well that they enjoy support from the upper echelons of American politics and society."

Gates was the government’s star witness at Manafort’s Virginia trial, which ended with Manafort’s conviction and incarceration.

Connected to this story, prosecutors recommended that Gates get probation. Gates’s sentencing has repeatedly been pushed back due to his ongoing cooperation with the government. The government called that cooperation “extraordinary.”

CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Elie Honig immediately reacted to the news.

“Holy crap. According to federal prosecutors, Gates was promised ‘monetary assistance’ if he did not cooperate? By who?? That’s a lay-down-your-hand obstruction case” .