The legal team representing former Trump campaign adviser Rick Gates have filed papers advising the judge in the case that they no longer wish to be his attorneys. “Irreconcilable differences have developed with the client which make our effective representation of the client impossible,” Gates’ lawyers wrote in a statement.
They also asked that the motion to file their document remain under seal because of information that if made public, would be “embarrassing” for Gates. The filing, they wrote, “involves highly sensitive matters concerning the Defendant and public disclosure of the information would potentially be prejudicial to the Defendant as well as embarrassing.”
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson released the filings anyway, but they contained no additional specifics. The docket said that Jackson took the attorneys’ request to withdraw under advisement. As of now, attorneys Shanlon Wu, Walter Mack, and AnneMarie McAvoy are still listed as part of Gates’ legal team.
Gates served in the Trump campaign as an assistant to one-time campaign manager Paul Manafort. Gates, along with Manafort, were indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller last October on a variety of charges, including money laundering and lying to the FBI.