Who is Rick Gates? All The Details About Manafort's Inside Man

In breaking news, Paul Manafort was indicted today by the Robert Mueller investigation into ties between the Donald Trump campaign and Russia. That was expected.

But less expected was the fact that another man would be incicted as well. That man: Rick Gates.

Who is Rick Gates? What was his role (if any) in the Donald Trump campaign? What other roles did he play? Read on...

Who is Rick Gates?

Rick Gates was a little known figure yesterday, but that's changing rapidly. He was a long-time partner of Paul Manafort, and has worked with him in different Russia-related lobbying gigs for years.

He started working at "Davis Manafort" (the lobbying firm) in 2006. According to MSNBC, Gates started with Manafort as an intern.

But Rick Gates was also a major player in the Trump campaign. He was referred to as Manafort's "right-hand" man, and he was essential in the Republican convention.

Since the convention, Gates actually remained in the Trump campaign after Manafort was removed for pro-Russia ties. In fact, according to the Daily Beast, he was "lurking" around in the administration well into summer of 2017.

After working on the campaign, Rick Gates was an essential part of the pro-Trump group "America First Policies." But when the Russia collusion questions started to heat up, he had to leave the group, and then he becamed involved with another pro-Trump group run by Tom Barrack.

Barrack was a close friend of Trump, and he continues to be involved with Trump and the White House. Barrack was involved in connecting Trump and Paul Manafort originally.

According to The Daily Beast, Rick Gates was not well liked by Trump, and it was often unknown why he would be milling about in the White House.

What is Rick Gates Charged With?

The charges are related to hiding payments from Ukraine, and allegedly laundering money through different foreign banks.