WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2019) Special Counsel Robert Mueller wrote in a Joint Status Report that has asked a Federal judge for more time before sentencing former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates because of his ongoing cooperation.
"[D]efendant Gates continues to cooperate with respect to several ongoing investigations, and accordingly the parties do not believe it is appropriate to commence the sentencing process at this time," Mueller wrote in the report filed on Tuesday.
Another joint status report will be presented no later than March 15, in two months' time, both parties wrote in the filing.
Gates and his ex-partner, former Trump presidential campaign manager Paul Manafort, have both been convicted as part of the FBI probe into Russia's alleged involvement in the 2016 US presidential election and Trump-Russia collusion.
Russia has repeatedly denied interfering in the 2016 US presidential election, saying the allegations were made up to excuse the election loss of a presidential candidate as well as deflect public attention from actual instances of electoral fraud and corruption.
US President Donald Trump has characterized the Mueller probe as a political witch hunt that has not produced evidence in two years.
