"Manafort trial Day 3: The bookkeeper speaks, a man-made waterfall and a Rick Gates guarantee", and day 4
Richard Gates, former associate to Paul Manafort, leaves the Prettyman Federal Courthouse after a hearing in February 2018 | Mark Wilson/Getty Images
The star witness for the prosecution against Manafort made quite a splash.
By Darren Samuelsohn and Josh Gerstein 8/7/18, 6:11 AM CET Updated 8/8/18, 5:08 AM CET
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s star witness, Rick Gates, finally took the stand on Monday, incriminating his former boss Paul Manafort in multimillion-dollar tax evasion, bank fraud and hiding offshore accounts, while also admitting to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars during a decade on Manafort’s payroll.
On the fifth day of Manafort’s federal trial in Alexandria, Virginia, Gates said that he took many of his actions at “Mr. Manafort’s direction,” admissions that go to the heart of charges lodged by Mueller against Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman.
Manafort trial Day 6: Gates is a liar who led 'secret life,' defense team argues
Defense attorney Kevin Downing portrayed Gates as untrustworthy and asked if he used money stolen from Manafort for an extramarital affair with a woman in the United Kingdom.
By JOSH GERSTEIN and DARREN SAMUELSOHN 08/07/2018 12:54 PM EDT Updated 08/07/2018 05:43 PM EDT
Manafort trial Day 7: Gates wraps testimony, tensions flare
Just as Gates was about to conclude his testimony, defense attorney Kevin Downing hit the former Manafort aide with a question that indicated Gates’ “secret life” involved multiple instances of marital infidelity.
By JOSH GERSTEIN and DARREN SAMUELSOHN 08/08/2018 12:41 PM EDT Updated 08/09/2018 07:53 PM EDT
Manafort trial Day 8: A heated exchange, judge admits fault, Airbnb enters the spotlight
The federal judge overseeing the Paul Manafort trial took another shot at special counsel Robert Mueller's team Thursday afternoon.
By JOSH GERSTEIN and DARREN SAMUELSOHN 08/09/2018 09:59 AM EDT Updated 08/09/2018 07:43 PM EDT
The federal judge overseeing the Paul Manafort trial took another shot at special counsel Robert Mueller's team Thursday afternoon, even after conceding earlier in the day that a criticism he leveled at prosecutors on Wednesday was erroneous.
The prosecution spent about 40 minutes Thursday afternoon questioning a bank employee about Manafort’s unsuccessful effort to get a $5.5 million construction loan on a Brooklyn brownstone, only to have Judge T.S. Ellis III suggest that the issue was unworthy of such extensive discussion at the trial. Notably, Ellis made the remark with the jury present.
“You might want to spend time on a loan that was granted,” the judge scoffed as prosecutor Uzo Asonye sat down after concluding his questioning of Citizens Bank employee Taryn Rodriguez.
That prompted Asonye, who had sat down, to jump back up.
“Your honor, this is a charged count in the indictment,” the prosecutor said.
“I know that,” Ellis shot back.
The tense exchange was the latest example of Ellis making comments that could lead jurors to question the prosecution's case or its tactics in the tax- and bank-fraud trial that opened last week.
Ellis even acknowledged that one of his prior remarks was out of line, telling the jury early Thursday that he “may well have been wrong” the day before when he slammed the Mueller team for allowing an expert witness from the IRS to remain in the courtroom while other witnesses were testifying.
Typically, witnesses aren't supposed to hear anyone else's testimony in a trial so they don't influence each other, but Mueller’s team got Ellis’ permission during the trial’s opening arguments last week to have the IRS agent in the court on a regular basis.
“This robe doesn’t make me anything other than human,” Ellis told the court on Thursday morning after instructing the jury to forget what he had said to the Mueller team about the IRS witness. “You’ve got to put that aside.”
Manafort trial Day 9: Witness suggests Trump role helped Manafort nab loans
Afternoon testimony indicated that Paul Manafort's role managing the Trump campaign helped him win millions of dollars in loans at a time he was badly short on cash.
By DARREN SAMUELSOHN and JOSH GERSTEIN 08/10/2018 12:20 PM EDT Updated 08/10/2018 07:23 PM EDT
Manafort trial Day 10: Prosecution rests, Manafort defense starts Tuesday
Paul Manafort's defense team, including Kevin Downing, center, Thomas Zehnle, right, and Richard Westling walk to federal court. Prosecutors in Manafort's tax- and bank-fraud trial rested their case Monday afternoon. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo
Mueller's team called more than two dozen witnesses in the tax- and bank-fraud case against the former Trump campaign chairman.
By DARREN SAMUELSOHN, JOSH GERSTEIN and KYLE CHENEY 08/13/2018 03:06 PM EDT Updated 08/13/2018 11:46 PM EDT
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