Rick Gates tells judge he's canceling Boston trip due to threat invoking Russian mafia

[MelissaB]

Rick Gates tells judge he's canceling trip due to threat invoking Russian mafia

Washington (CNN)Former Trump campaign deputy Rick Gates told a federal court Thursday afternoon that he and his wife believe it's "not prudent" for them to take their four children on a trip to Boston, after feeling threatened by an online commenter who invoked the Russian mafia.

A Boston Globe report on Gates' scheduled trip, planned for next week and approved by Judge Amy Berman Jackson, "generated comments on the internet, some of which were of a threatening character," Gates' attorney said in a court filing.

Following his guilty plea and agreement to cooperate in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation last Friday, Gates had asked to take his family to Boston for spring break to learn about the Revolutionary War.

He is only allowed outside of the Washington, DC, and Richmond, Virginia, areas, where his lawyers are based and where he lives, with special permission from the judge.

More: https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/01/politics/rick-gates-boston-threat/index.html

[bettyellen]

1. Well everyones worried about him surviving to testify. Of course its stupid for him to travel

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. He and Manafort will have to go into witness protection

both before and after their prison terms.

[MelissaB]

3. I wonder if they can really be protected if they go to prison at all.

I just don't know.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. They'll probably end up in a minimum-security federal prison,

which is where they usually put white-collar criminals. However, they'd probably be safer from malign outside forces in a more unpleasant but also more secure place like Leavenworth.

[peggysue2]

4. Gee, who would have thunk it?

Messing with Russia's mafia-state, coughing up names and dates and actions, could have consequences. Could also bring out the crazies in Trumplandia.

Makes you really wonder who you can trust.

Can't Gates or any of these cooperating witnesses request a security detail? Under the circumstances, why would you want to travel anywhere? Particularly with your children.

[uponit7771]

6. ... and that's the reason you don't get involved with those people !!! They're animals

[sarah FAILIN]

7. They need to be in hiding right now

Nobody will get a thing out of him if the Russians are cutting off the pinky fingers of his children. That is not in any way a threat, that is what I would be afraid of if I were him.

No matter what dad did or knows, his children should not be in danger so I hope they do have protection. You never know what Putin will do to keep things going his way.

[Gothmog]

8. Manafort may be delaying flipping due to fear of Russia