Manafort Co-Defendant Gates Denied More Freedom for Thanksgiving

(Bloomberg) -- Paul Manafort’s co-defendant, Rick Gates, won’t get a break on his court-ordered home confinement while he waits to go to trial on money laundering and other federal charges arising from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian influence on the 2016 presidential election.

Gates asked to be allowed to work, to help his wife take their kids to school and to participate in his family’s Thanksgiving holiday plans. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington on Thursday denied the request and reiterated he should first work out a deal with prosecutors.

Gates was provisionally released after his Oct. 30 arraignment on an unsecured $5 million personal recognizance bond. His lawyers are still trying to negotiate a permanent bail package with Mueller’s team.

"The court is well aware that a house full of busy children comes with constant and competing transportation demands and that the burden shouldered by many mothers is exacerbated in this case by the defendant’s current bond conditions," the judge said, adding she’s made clear what it would take to secure Gates’s release.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris in Washington at aharris16@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider, Paul Cox

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