Secret Agent Man: was Rick Gates wearing a wire between February 2nd and February 23rd?

Rick Gates plea agreement states:

“The defendant agrees to… participate in undercover activities pursuant to the specific instructions of law enforcement agents…”

and…

“The defendant agrees not to reveal his cooperation, or any information derived therefrom, to any third party without prior consent of the Office.”

And so the question becomes, what use is a Secret Agent Man who’s not a secret?

Once you announce it, it’s kind of worthless.

That’s, like, Blowing Cover 101.

So the only other option, as far as I can tell, is that Richard Gates III, was “participating in undercover activities.”

Past tense.

But when, you ask?

Well…

The lie to the F.B.I. that Gates pled guilty to occurred on February 1st. And any agreement “not to reveal his cooperation, or any information derived therefrom,” seems fairly useless at the time it’s being revealed to the world.

That would mean that some or all of the time between February 2nd and February 23rd, the date this plea was entered, Gates was interacting with Manafort while technically working for the government.

During that time Gates’ cut off the Joint Defense Agreement, so their lawyers weren’t sharing information. It would have, therefore, been ethical.

And given how much federal law enforcement loves surveillance and technology it is inconceivable to me that they didn’t mic him up at least once.

We’ll soon know.

Let the Mueller Show commence!