Manafort deputy Gates denied bid for house arrest break over Thanksgiving

A U.S. district court judge on Thursday denied a bid by former Donald Trump campaign staffer Rick Gates to allow him to travel for Thanksgiving and Christmas, Politico reports.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson denied the request, filed Wednesday, which complained strict home confinement had caused “great burden on his family and hardship to his wife.”

“His wife is physically not able to keep up with these transportation demands,” Gates’ attorney, Shanlon Wu, wrote in a motion to the judge. Wu also requested Gates receive permission to leave home during Thanksgiving and Christmas and meet with clients in the northern Virginia area “in order to continue to earn an income so that he may support his family.”

In response, special counsel Robert Mueller’s office filed a brief insisting Gates reach a bail agreement before being granted a break in his house arrest rules. Jackson on Thursday sided with Mueller’s team, urging Gates’ attorneys to negotiate a bail package with federal prosecutors.

“The court is well aware that a house full of busy children comes with constant and competing transportation demands, and that the burden shouldered by many mothers is exacerbated in this case by defendant’s current bond conditions,” Jackson wrote.

Last month, prosecutors charged Gates and former Donald Trump chairman Paul Manafort with a litany of crimes including conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money and acting as as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. The trial is slated to start on May 7, 2018.