Article snippet: Former Trump campaign adviser Rick Gates, who has pleaded guilty in The New York Times reported Monday. Gates reportedly solicited plans to use social media manipulation and to gather intelligence to help Trump defeat his opponents in the Republican primary, as well as Democratic presidential nominee MORE in the general election. Gates sought a proposal from a company staffed by former Israeli intelligence officers, Psy-Group, to use fake identities to sway 5,000 Republican National Convention delegates by attacking Sen. MORE (R-Texas), an opponent of Trump's at the time, according to the Times. Mark Mazzetti, one of the Times reporters who authored the story, said Monday on CNN that the firm proposed using “40 to 50 people to create thousands of different identities — fake personas on Twitter, Facebook, et cetera.” “And these would then target … delegates based on a psychological profile that the company built about the delegates — find out what most interested them. So you build a profile and use these avatars, bots, et cetera to spread messages, to try to influence their votes, to try to make sure that they stay on the Trump side,” Mazzetti added. The Times reported that other proposals from the company included one that featured a plan to help Trump "by using social media to help expose or amplify division among rival campaigns and factions," and another that offered opposition research about Clinton and her allies. Psy-Group’s owner, Joel Zamel, reportedl... Link to the full article to read more