Rick Gates, who served as the deputy to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is facing charges along with Manafort including money laundering and making false statements. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo Gates wins weekend pass from home confinement after securing help on $5M bail package

Former Donald Trump campaign staffer Rick Gates overcame special counsel Robert Mueller’s opposition Thursday to secure court permission to leave home confinement over the weekend to attend events for his children.

Gates is facing charges along with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort including money laundering and making false statements. The charges do not relate to the pair’s work for the Trump campaign but instead to their lobbying work in Ukraine. Both men have pleaded not guilty.


The victory came after Gates’ attorneys notified the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that he’d enlisted the help of two people willing to post their property as collateral to help guarantee his $5 million bond conditions.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson granted Gates’ request on the condition he tells the court by the end of business Friday the precise times and locations of the two events he wants to attend: volunteering at a school-sponsored parent event on Saturday and again on Sunday to coach at a youth sporting event.

Berman’s order came in response to a motion Gates’ lawyers filed earlier in the day explaining that they’d presented Mueller’s office with the two individuals willing to put up their property on Gates’ behalf and that those individuals had been interviewed by the special prosecutor’s team.

Gates’ lawyers did not identify the individuals, and their filing noted that they had asked Mueller’s team not to identify them either, in order to protect their privacy.

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Mueller's team in a response Thursday indicated that it would oppose Gates' temporary release because he has not yet come to a full agreement with the government on bond conditions that would inflict a stiff monetary penalty if he fails to appear for court.

"The government continues to believe that the defendant should post a secured bond before being granted further modifications," Greg Andres, a special counsel prosecutor, wrote to the court. "Notwithstanding any progress made, the defendant’s current release rests only on his personal recognizance and an unsecured appearance bond, which this Court has previously found insufficient to assure his appearance given the seriousness of the charges, the strength of the evidence, and the risk of flight posed."

In late November, Manafort reached a bail deal with prosecutors to pledge four properties worth about $11 million in exchange for freedom from house confinement.

The court set bail for Gates at $5 million but said he could be detained at home until his bail arrangements are made, leaving only for meetings with his legal team, court appearances or medical or religious reasons. Gates and his team have yet to agree on bail arrangements with Mueller’s office and the court.

A previous request to get out of home confinement to travel for Thanksgiving and Christmas, drive his children to school and extracurricular activities and continue his lobbying work was denied, although a subsequent request that contained only a Thanksgiving travel request was granted. A judge also granted Gates' request to drive to Washington and stay overnight to meet with his lawyers.

