Looks like Rick Gates is getting ready to travel–with full support from special counsel Robert Mueller.
A late Friday filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia notes that former Trump campaign deputy chairman Gates has requested “permission to travel to participate in a trip with his children…which will take place outside the jurisdiction of his release conditions.”
After being indicted in late 2017, Gates was put under house arrest in Richmond, Virginia, where he was subject to a GPS monitoring regime under the terms of his bail conditions. U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed to release Gates from that strict, movement-tracking device earlier this year as he continued to meet with the special counsel’s office and provide information. At this point, Gates was also allowed a bit of free travel within the areas of northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.
“The Court now has the benefit of additional information, including defendant’s record of ongoing cooperation with the government, his testimony at the trial in the Eastern District of Virginia under difficult circumstances, as well as his compliance with all of the travel conditions to date,” Judge Jackson noted in her October order. “In light of all of those circumstances, and in consideration of the matters set forth in all of the previous bond motions, the financial conditions imposed in previous orders, and the government’s consent, the motion will be granted, and the conditions of defendant’s release will be modified to eliminate the curfew and the requirement of GPS monitoring.”
Gates has previously requested had various travel requests denied and approved by the court–and canceled a planned trip to Boston this past spring after threats were posted online. Each time Gates has been allowed to leave his release area he’s received Mueller’s blessing.
Which means he’ll probably be allowed the travel requested on Friday.
“The Special Counsel, does not oppose this motion,” the filing notes.
If the request is granted, Gates will be forced to inform Pretrial Services of any pertinent details. And, like previous instances where he was allowed to travel outside the D.C. metro area, he probably won’t be allowed to imbibe any alcohol.
On Nov. 14, Mueller pushed back the next status report on Gates to the new year, saying that although the “status of this matter has not changed substantially” since the last update, Gates was still cooperating “with respect to several ongoing investigations.” That status report date has been set for no later than Jan. 15, 2019. You may also recall Gates as a star witness at Paul Manafort‘s bank and tax fraud trial in the Eastern District of Virginia, a trial that ended with Gates’ former lobbying associate being convicted on eight counts.
[image via BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images]
Follow Colin Kalmbacher on Twitter: @colinkalmbacher
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
