3rd Trump aide pleads guilty as Trump hides behind 'lock her up' chant

Another Trump campaign adviser has pleaded guilty to conspiring against the United States and lying to the FBI.

Rick Gates, who worked on the campaign through Election Day, pleaded guilty just one day after special counsel Robert Mueller released 32 new charges against him and Paul Manafort.

The guilty plea came mere hours after Trump addressed the annual right-wing convention known as CPAC. During his long, rambling speech, he basked in the sound of the crowd cheering “lock her up!”

As the Washington Post notes, Gates could be a particularly useful asset to Mueller’s investigation. He was a high-level staffer during the campaign, but also had access to Trump’s inner circle through the first few months of the administration.

That could mean Gates knows a lot of secrets the White House is desperate to keep quiet. Mueller was appointed last June to investigate possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

But the scope of his investigation has reportedly expanded to look into whether Trump obstructed justice by trying to impede the investigation.

Gates now joins two other Trump advisers who have also pleaded guilty. George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser to the campaign, pleaded guilty in October and has been cooperating with the FBI for nearly a year.

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty in December.

Trump had called the Russia investigation a “hoax,” even after two of his former aides pleaded guilty. He has falsely claimed that the recent indictment of 13 Russian operatives vindicates him.

During CPAC speech, Trump returned to his old attacks on Hillary Clinton. He called her “crooked” and claimed investigations have somehow revealed her wrongdoing. They have not, but that was reason enough for the crowd to start chanting “lock her up!” again.

The CPAC crowd broke into the same cheer on Thursday, shortly after the new indictment against Manafort and Gates was announced.

Trump and his supporters continue to demand Clinton’s investigation and even jailing. But it  is Trump’s own advisers who are facing, and pleading guilty to, serious criminal charges that could send them to prison.