This is obviously great, great news for the far-left media and their Democratic friends in Congress. They can, yet again, claim that an “ex-Trump” official has been sentenced to jail time in relation to the Mueller investigation. See! They did dig up some serious dirt on the 2016 campaign.
The former adviser is Richard Gates. Gates served, the Wall Street Journal reports, “as a senior campaign aide and deputy chairman of the president’s 2017 inauguration.” In other words, HE’S TRULY CONNECTED TO TRUMP.
Interestingly enough, the prosecutor in the case against Gates was happy to accept no jail time at all. The reason being that Gates cooperated fully with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. The “star witness” played a vital role in the case against Paul Manafort. The judge, however, thought Gates should serve jail time because no imprisonment at all would supposedly send the wrong message to society at large. And so he sentenced him to 45 days in jail.
Now, although the headline everywhere will be that Gates was a former Trump aide, Gates’ conviction doesn’t actually have anything to do with the president. As the WSJ explains:
Mr. Gates pleaded guilty in 2018 to lying to investigators and conspiracy related to consulting work in Ukraine in the early 2010s, at the time becoming another senior Trump aide to agree to cooperate in Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and any links to the Trump campaign. While the investigation was focused on the 2016 activity, investigators homed in on the earlier work by Mr. Gates and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on behalf of a pro-Russia party in Ukraine; the investigation found the men hadn’t paid taxes on millions of dollars of that income and violated criminal laws that require U.S. lobbyists to report work on behalf of foreign governments.”
The latter “crime” is, of course, a joke. The former less so. Yes, taxes are theft, but it can’t come as a surprise to anyone that not paying them can cost you dearly — not just financially, but also with regards to your freedom. Sad but true.
In any case, although it’s true that Gates clearly broke the law, his illegal activities have nothing to do with Trump, his campaign, or Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Strangely, I don’t expect the old mainstream media to clearly explain that to their readers. Instead, Gates’ imprisonment will be presented as yet more proof (haha) that the Trump campaign supposedly was corrupt and untrustworthy. Not because it’s true, but because it’s just so great to smear the president whenever the occasion arises.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member