Rick Gates, who worked as a top aide on Donald Trump‘s presidential campaign, is expected to plead guilty Friday in the special counsel’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
The New York Times and ABC News reported the development earlier. NBC News confirmed it, citing a source familiar with the proceedings.
Gates’ expected plea is considered an indication that he may be cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller.
The news comes a day after Mueller unveiled new charges against Gates and his former business associate Paul Manafort, who was Trump’s campaign chief for a few months in 2016.
Gates and Manafort were previously indicted in the probe in October.
The charges, which include bank fraud and an array of other financial crimes, stem from alleged conduct that does not relate to work that Manafort and Gates did for Trump’s campaign. However, some of the alleged crimes occurred while they were working for Trump and afterward.
As part of the new indictment, the special counsel claims that after Manafort and Gates saw their income dwindle through at least January 2017, they “extracted money” from Manafort’s U.S. real estate to obtain loans from several financial institutions.
Manafort claims he is innocent and is confident he will be acquitted, a spokesman has said.
— CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
