Lawyers for Manafort co-defendant Gates seek to withdraw over rift - filing

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The legal team representing Richard Gates, a business associate of U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, wants to stop representing him due to "irreconcilable differences," according to a court filing unsealed on Wednesday.

Shanlon Wu, Walter Mack and Annemarie McAvoy, the three lawyers representing Gates, first revealed their plans to withdraw from the high-profile criminal case last week, but the reasons for their request to drop the case were all under seal.

A closed-door hearing was held earlier on Wednesday on their motion to withdraw, but the judge has not yet issued a ruling on their request.

(Reporting by Sarah N. LynchEditing by Jonathan Oatis)