Manafort's former business partner drops bombshell testimony — here's what he said

Rick Gates, the former business partner of Paul Manafort, dropped a bombshell in a federal courtroom Monday as part of the special counsel's investigation into Russian election interference.

What did he say?

In a dramatic and riveting moment in court, Gates testified that he had committed crimes with his former associate.

“Were you involved in criminal activity when you worked for Paul Manafort?” asked a prosecutor.

“Yes,” Gates said.

“Did you commit crimes with Mr. Manafort?” asked the prosecutor.

“Yes,” Gates replied.

Manafort is charged with bank and tax fraud related to political consulting work he did in Ukraine. Prosecutors allege he did not properly disclose his relations with foreign governments, and that he hid income in order to avoid his tax burden in the United States.

Reporters in the courtroom said that Manafort stared intently at Gates while he testified against him, but that Gates avoided looking at his former partner.

Gates admitted in court that he embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from Manafort, and that he knowingly committed crimes at the behest of his former partner. He also said that he pled guilty to conspiracy and to lying to federal authorities.

His testimony is scheduled to continue on Tuesday.

'Hand in the cookie jar'

In opening arguments, Manafort's lawyer defended his client by blaming Gates for the offenses alleged against his client.

“Rick Gates had his hand in the cookie jar and couldn’t let his boss find out,” he said.

What does this have to do with Trump?

So far, very little. Manafort ran the 2016 presidential campaign for then-candidate Donald Trump, but the crimes he is accused of were allegedly committed prior to his involvement with the election.

Many of the president's critics are hopeful that his connections to shady political dealings in Ukraine with Russian entanglements could mean that Mueller is discovering the campaign's ties to Russian interference. So far, there has been no evidence made public to substantiate that hope.

Here's Fox News' report on the testimony from Gates: