Disgraced former Trump campaign official Rick Gates solicited proposals from an Israeli psychological-operations firm to manipulate social media in Trump’s favor and gather intelligence on Trump’s opponents during the 2016 election season. That’s according to The New York Times, which reports Gates contacted Psy-Group, a company staffed by former Israeli intelligence agents, seeking ways to undermine Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Psy-Group also proposed using thousands of phony social media accounts to target delegates to the Republican National Convention in order to prevent them from rebelling against Trump. The Times reports Psy-Group’s owner pitched the proposals at a 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr., United Arab Emirates adviser George Nader and Erik Prince, founder of the mercenary company Blackwater. The Times reports there’s no evidence Gates acted on Psy-Group’s proposals. Last year, Rick Gates and his boss, Paul Manafort, were indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team on multiple counts of fraud and tax evasion. Gates pleaded guilty to many of the charges.