Good morning from federal court in DC, where former Trump campaign deputy Rick Gates is scheduled to be sentenced at 10 am and closing out one of the final chapters from the Mueller investigation. 
Gates is entering the courthouse now with his attorney Tom Green.
Gates takes his seat at the defense table. He's sitting in the same seat that Roger Stone was in (and the same courtroom) during his conviction last month.
Just updating my last tweet - Now Gates' lawyer Tom Green is in the spot that Stone was in last month -- sitting closest to Judge Amy Berman Jackson. She'll be entering the courtroom momentarily.
Twitter back up, but the Gates sentencing still hasn't started. Federal prosecutors are just now taking their seats. An assistant US attorney, Molly Gaston, was the lead author on his sentencing memo.
Reporter colleagues here spotted former Mueller prosector Andrew Weissmann in the courtroom. I saw Uzo Asonye, part of the US attorney's office in Eastern Virginia and a member of the special counsel's Manafort trial team, also here in the building.
Weissmann is indeed in the courtroom. He's shaking hands now with Gates and his attorney.
"All rise!" - Sentencing hearing is underway. Judge Jackson takes her seat.
Molly Gaston is representing the US attorney's office. Tom Green for Gates.
Jackson discussing all the letters Gates' family and friends, plus former boss Charlie Black, that have been entered into the record.
Here's our story in @politico from last week when the government and Gates attorney suggested Judge Jackson give Gates probation. politico.com/news/2019/12/1…
@politico By way of background, Gates had been looking at a maximum total sentence of 10 years in prison for the two charges he pleaded guilty to: conspiracy against the U.S. and making false statements to the FBI.
@politico Jackson ticking through all the different criteria in coming to her sentence. She notes his criminal record to date is null. "He doesn't have any prior convictions although he apparently does drive fast," the judge says.
@politico Jackson notes she got to see Gates testify twice in the Greg Craig and Roger Stone trials and was "candid." She adds that he said 'I don't know' when he didn't know something. "He didn't come across as some kind of bought and paid for puppet," she said.
@politico Jackson OKs government's request to take into account the cooperation he gave during the Mueller probe and for other investigators. Molly Gaston now ticking through examples where Gates helped the government.
@politico Gates has also agreed to continue cooperating with the government beyond his sentencing today in any ongoing investigations, Gaston says.
@politico Gaston says Manafort had told Gates a legal defense fund would be available to him if he didn't plead guilty and cooperate with the government.
@politico Tom Green now speaking on Gates' behalf.
@politico Green: "As an aside, it's hard for me to believe it's been almost two years, I think more than two years, when you invited me down to this courtroom to talk about the change of counsel." Jackson replies, "It was nice of you to call that an invitation."
@politico Green: "He never hesitated. Never faltered. He never second guessed whether he was doing the right thing."
@politico Gates delivers a very short statement. "I accept complete responsibility for my actions." He asks for probation and then adds, "I hope and pray that you will grant that to me.”
@politico Jackson now consulting with counsel at the bench.
@politico Gates' attorney Tom Green now consulting w/ Gates after the lawyer spent about three minutes talking to the judge alongside the federal prosecutor.
@politico And now Tom Green and federal prosector back at the bench.
@politico Judge Jackson calls a brief recess to "absorb everything" that's happened. She didn't disclose what that was. She says she'll be back in about 10 minutes or so.
@politico My colleague @joshgerstein steps out of the courtroom during the break to share that former Mueller prosecutor Greg Andres is also here for the Gates sentencing. Andres was a key part of the Manafort trial team.
@politico @joshgerstein Andres was the prosecutor who questioned Gates at the Manafort trial in August, 2018. Here's our coverage in @politico from that day, which seems like eons ago: politico.com/story/2018/08/…
@politico @joshgerstein Everyone is just standing around in the courtroom during the break waiting for Judge Jackson to return. Gates chatting w/ his two-man defense team.
@politico @joshgerstein We are still waiting for Judge Jackson. It's now been about 25 minutes. And for those wondering Rick Gates is indeed beardless.
@politico @joshgerstein Court officer tells everyone to take their seats.
@politico @joshgerstein "All rise!" - Judge Jackson returns to courtroom.
@politico @joshgerstein Jackson asks Gates and Green to come to the lectern: "I warn you you may be standing there for a while. There’s a lot to talk about."
@politico @joshgerstein She's now reading through the introduction describing all the underlying crimes Gates and Manafort were initially charged w/: false statements to the government, $ laundering, unregistered foreign agent, tax fraud.
@politico @joshgerstein Jackson notes $75M flowed through offshore accounts controlled by Manafort and Gates. She adds, “Those are facts. Those are not alleged facts. Those are not alternative facts.”
@politico @joshgerstein Before Jackson launched into her recitation of the facts she explained that this is how she always treats sentences - to go through what the person did before reaching her decision.
@politico @joshgerstein Jackson now turns to Gates' personal background: “There is more to Rick Gates than that and it’s a more nuanced picture.”
@politico @joshgerstein Jackson notes how Gates was influenced by Manafort. “Politics don’t corrupt people. People corrupt politics," she says.
@politico @joshgerstein Jackson: “Gates’ information alone warranted, indeed demanded further investigation from the standpoint of our national security, the integrity of our elections and the enforcement of our criminal laws.”
@politico @joshgerstein She notes others didn’t cooperate w/ Mueller, and used encrypted apps to make their conversations hard to track.
@politico @joshgerstein Jackson: “I believe he has in a very real way accepted responsibility for his actions.”
@politico @joshgerstein Jackson: “He's been at this long enough and under such onerous circumstances that one can believe in the transformation.”
@politico @joshgerstein Jackson citing other related cases, including Samuel Patten (probation/fine), George Papadopolous (14 days in jail/fine), Alex van der Zwaan (30 days) and Manafort (7.5 years overall).
@politico @joshgerstein Jackson notes the sentence isn't just for the defendant but also what it says for others who commit same crimes. “This is what I’ve been struggling with in anticipation of this sentencing for a long time," she says.
@politico @joshgerstein BREAKING: Gates sentenced to three years of probation and also 45 days in jail, to be served on weekends. Also a $20,000 fine.
@politico @joshgerstein Gates' sentence also includes 300 hours of community service.
@politico @joshgerstein Jackson ends the hearing addressing the defendant: "Mr. Gates, I’m 100 percent certain that this criminal justice system is not going to see you again. And I hope you will convey my concern to your wife." Gates' wife has breast cancer.
@politico @joshgerstein Here's our @politico story from today's proceedings w/ @joshgerstein politico.com/news/2019/12/1…
