Who are the three former Trump aides charged?

Who are the three former Trump aides charged?

Three of Donald Trump's former aides from his 2016 presidential election campaign are now facin..

Three of Donald Trump's former aides from his 2016 presidential election campaign are now facing criminal charges.

They've been charged as part of an investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the election.

So who are the three men and what have they been charged with?

Image:Paul Manafort has now been placed under house arrest

Paul Manafort

The most high profile of the three men, Manafort became Donald Trump's campaign chief in June 2016.

The 68-year-old resigned shortly afterwards in August 2016, after reports he had covertly lobbied on behalf of Ukraine's ruling party in the US.

He was a veteran Republican operative who had previously worked as a Washington lobbyist and international political consultant.

His previous clients included authoritarian leaders such as the late Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines – as well as businessmen and politicians from Russia and Ukraine.

Manafort is facing nine charges which include conspiracy against the US, conspiracy to launder money, failure to file reports of foreign banks and financial accounts (four counts), false and misleading statements under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and making false statements.

Many of the charges are unrelated to his work on the Trump campaign, and instead date back to his time working for Ukraine's pro-Russian government.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Rick Gates has denied all of the charges against him
Image:Rick Gates has denied all of the charges against him

Rick Gates

Gates, 45, was Manafort's protege and had worked with him since 2006 when he joined lobbying firm Davis Manafort.

He had also worked at other businesses with Manafort in the intervening years.

He became Donald Trump's deputy campaign manager but did not resign when his boss did in August 2016 and continued to work for the campaign.

In the indictment document he is described as Manafort's "right-hand man" and it is alleged he was involved in the same illegal activities as his former boss.

Gates is facing the same charges as Manafort and has also pleaded not guilty.

George Papadopoulos, circled, pictured in a social media post by the Trump campaign last year
Image:George Papadopoulos pictured in a social media post by the Trump campaign last year

George Papadopoulos

Papadopoulos was a policy adviser to Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election, although the extent of his interaction with the President is unclear.

He joined the Trump campaign in May 2016 after having previously advised fellow Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson from November 2015 to January 2016.

He has pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI agents while they were investigating Russian government efforts to interfere in the election.

He told agents he had been in contact with a foreign "professor" who said he had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails".

He told investigators that this occurred before he joined Trump's campaign, when they actually took place after he joined the campaign.

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