Mueller pushed Rick Gates to cooperate on Russian collusion investigation — not on case against Manafort

The former deputy campaign manager for Donald Trump was pushed last year to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller on more than just his case against former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

CNN reported Thursday evening that Rick Gates, Manafort's deputy who stayed on after the latter was ousted and was spotted at the White House in the early days of the Trump administration, was sought for cooperation on Mueller's investigation into whether or not the campaign colluded with Russia. The information came from the network's sources close to the investigation.

The information comes after court filings from earlier this week revealed to the public that Mueller was probing Gates' knowing contact with a Russian intelligence-linked Ukrainian during the campaign. The deputy campaign manager's knowledge, if any, has not yet been made public, but did file a guilty plea last month in exchange for a greatly-reduced sentence — a move that signals cooperation with Mueller's team.