If the slow drip of indictments against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his deputy manager Rick Gates were intended to persuade them to flip, it may have worked.
Various news outlets reported this morning that Gates has informed his family that he intends to cooperate with special prosecutor Robert Mueller.
From ABC News:
President Donald Trump’s one-time campaign aide Richard Gates has told family and close friends in a letter sent this morning he plans to plead guilty Friday in the special counsel’s criminal case against him, setting up the potential for Gates to become the latest well-informed Trump insider to assist in the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential contest, according to sources close to the matter. [...]
Gates has for weeks been vacillating between fighting the charges and pleading guilty, and remained undecided through much of this week, according to the sources.
The 32-count indictment unsealed last night made it clear that Mueller's office knows everything about their activities and it appears that was enough to push Gates over the edge.
With all of that said, we don't know what Gates knows. It's possible he's simply flipping against his former boss Paul Manafort, or he might know things about other people close to Trump.
As of today, there's been no sign that Manafort intends to cooperate. It's possible he never will. It's possible his refusal to cooperate may be the only thing saving him from polonium.