title: Colony NorthStar ends consulting agreement with former Trump aide Gates
text: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Colony NorthStar Inc has ended a consulting agreement with Rick Gates, a former campaign aide to U.S. President Donald Trump, a spokesman for the real estate and financial firm said on Monday. Gates, who had been working as a consultant for Colony for six months, according to the spokesman, was indicted on Monday on charges of conspiracy to launder money and failing to report foreign bank accounts to the U.S. government.  The charges were part of a probe by Robert Mueller, a special counsel appointed to investigate whether Russia tried  to tilt the 2016 presidential election in Trump’s favor, and whether members of the Trump campaign colluded in any such effort.  Gates pleaded not guilty to all charges on Monday. David Bos, the lawyer who represented Gates in an appearance in federal court, declined to comment. Gates could not be reached for comment. A longtime associate of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was also indicted on Monday, Gates continued to work on Trump’s campaign after Manafort left in August 2016. Gates also worked with Colony NorthStar founder and executive chairman Thomas Barrack Jr. on Trump’s presidential inaugural committee, according to three sources who asked not to be identified. Barrack chaired the committee. 