Donald Trump

Judge Issues Gag Order in Manafort, Gates Criminal Case

A federal judge issued a gag order Wednesday in the trial of two top members of President Donald Trump's campaign, ordering "all interested parties" to keep from discussing anything in public that could influence a trial or potential jurors.

Defendants Paul Manafort and Rick Gates are included in that order from U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, as well as potential witnesses and any lawyer in the case.

Jackson said in her two-page order that the ruling was intended to guarantee the defendants' rights to a fair trial and to ensure that a jury is not tainted by pretrial publicity.

Manafort and Gates were charged by the special counsel investigating possible Russian interference in the 2016 election with laundering the profits of foreign consulting work performed on behalf of a Ukrainian political party and concealing those assets from the U.S. government.

They have pleaded not guilty to the 12 charges and were placed on home confinement with GPS monitoring.

Manafort led Trump's campaign for several months, and with Gates, his business associate, as a deputy.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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