Former deputy Trump campaign manager Rick Gates testified during Roget Stone's trial on Tuesday that the campaign had a keen interest in the anticipated release of stolen emails from Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party prior to the 2016 election, and held a series of what he called "brainstorming" sessions among top campaign aides about WikiLeaks. [...]

In his testimony as a government witness in the criminal case against Stone, Gates described discussions he said he had with several senior campaign officials leading up to WikiLeaks' release of hacked materials as part of an effort to hurt the campaign of then-candidate Donald Trump's 2016 political opponent, He also said Stone shepherded those discussions.

In June, when WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange claimed to have information about Clinton, Gates said campaign's response "was one of happiness ... it was, in a way, a gift."