A federal judge Thursday granted a motion from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team to seal part of a private discussion they had with Paul Manafort’s defense attorneys and the judge at the bench during the testimony of Rick Gates, Manafort’s former business associate.
The special counsel’s office said in a court filing to U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III on Thursday that a portion of the sidebar conference should be sealed because “it would reveal substantive evidence pertaining to an ongoing criminal investigation.”
The relevant portions of the discussion will be sealed until the “relevant aspect of the investigation” is made public, Ellis said in his order.
The conversation at issue occurred Tuesday during Gates’ testimony, and the private discussion was masked by white noise playing in the courtroom.
Though the motion does not specify which line of questioning prompted the bench conference, lawyers for both parties and Ellis huddled after Kevin Downing, a lawyer for Manafort, asked Gates during cross-examination whether he was interviewed by Mueller’s team about his time working with the Trump campaign.
Before Gates could respond, prosecutor Greg Andres objected and requested a sidebar discussion with the judge and Manafort’s attorneys.
Gates served as deputy campaign manager of the Trump campaign and deputy chairman of President Trump’s inaugural committee.
Gates was indicted alongside Manafort, but pleaded guilty in February. His testimony in Manafort’s trial spanned three days, and he is said to be cooperating with Mueller during his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
