Gates is looking a little dirtier than I had hoped. Embezzling from Manafort, lying under oath in a deposition, lying during his debriefing with the prosecutors in this case. And that’s under friendly questioning. It will get worse.
But that’s what always happens when you put on the snitch. By now the jury should have heard the prosecutor’s “We put criminals on the stand because defendants commit [name of crime] with other criminals, not with nuns and kindergarten teachers” speech in the opening. They’ll hear it at closing for sure.
It usually ends up depending on the quality of the corroboration, not the content of the snitch’s character. [apologies to MLK]