Judge questions whether Gates fundraiser broke gag order [View all]
Source: AP
Former presidential adviser Rick Gates, on house arrest in the federal Russia probe, didn't even have to leave his home this week to provoke the judge handling his case.
In a brief order Friday, U.S. District Judge Amy B. Jackson summoned Gates and his lawyers to court on Dec. 27 to explain why the accused shouldn't be held in contempt for violating her gag order imposed on everyone connected with the case. Jackson wants to know why Gates appeared by video at a fundraiser for his legal defense fund.
Jackson told Gates to explain why "his reported personal participation in the creation of a fundraising video to be shown to journalists and disseminated on social media, in which, according to multiple press accounts, defendant makes reference to 'the cause' and the goal of 'ensuring that our supporters from across the United States hear our message and stand with us,' would not violate this Court's order."
It's the second time Jackson has dealt with unexpected public pronouncements by the first individuals indicted in special counsel Robert Mueller's wide-ranging criminal investigation. Earlier, she was told that Gates' co-defendant Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, had secretly co-authored a glowing commentary article that was published in an English-language newspaper in Ukraine.
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-questions-whether-gates-fundraiser-broke-gag-order-162721143--politics.html
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