“Defense attorneys for Paul Manafort rested their case on Tuesday without calling any witnesses or having the former Trump campaign chairman testify in the trial where he is accused of bank and tax fraud,” Reuters reports.
“At the same time, the judge overseeing the trial rejected Manafort’s motion to throw out the 18 charges against him.”
Politico: “Closing statements will begin Wednesday, with jury deliberations to follow.”
Roger Stone shared an image on Instagram of himself, President Trump and several other Trump allies wearing spacesuits with swastikas on them.
Said Stone: “I love this — proud to be in this crew — but the only lies being told are by liberal scumbags.”
He’s since deleted the image.
Yahoo News: “As the trial of President Trump’s former campaign chairman resumes today, it appears prosecutors from special counsel Robert Mueller’s office have decided not to call three seemingly key figures. The absence of these witnesses offers intriguing hints about potential ongoing investigations and additional prosecutions that could yet take place.”
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“A verdict in Paul Manafort’s Virginia trial could come as early as this week, but it will hardly be the last word on his fate. A conviction would threaten to jail Manafort, 69, for the rest of his life. But he would have the option to appeal — or hope for a politically explosive pardon from President Trump,” Politico reports.
“Even if a jury acquits the former Trump 2016 campaign chairman on the tax and bank fraud charges that special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors have detailed out over the past two weeks, Manafort is hardly out of the woods.”
“Most notably, the longtime GOP operative still faces a second federal trial slated to begin in mid-September in Washington. And that case, accusing Manafort of money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent while lobbying for the government of Ukraine, could be even more challenging.”
New York Times: “The whole trajectory of Mr. Manafort’s life — from the son of a blue-collar, small-town mayor to a jet-setting international political consultant to Trump campaign chairman and now to prisoner in an Alexandria, Va., jail awaiting a jury verdict — is a tale of greed, deception and ego. His trial on 18 charges of bank and tax fraud has ripped away the elaborate facade of a man who, the story went, had moved the swimming pool at one of his eight homes a few feet to catch the perfect combination of sun and shade, and who worked for the Trump campaign at no charge to intimate that for a man of his fabulous wealth, a salary was trivial.”
“His trial also underscores questions about how someone in such deep financial trouble rose to the top of the Trump campaign, spreading a stain that has touched the president’s innermost circle. The formidable parade of more than 20 witnesses and hundreds of exhibits has further eroded the notion, advanced by President Trump, that the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, Robert S. Mueller III, is on a ‘witch hunt.’l
“Paul Manafort’s criminal trial on bank- and tax-fraud charges, speeding along for nearly two weeks, came to a mysterious halt Friday morning as the federal judge and lawyers for both sides huddled out of earshot of the public,” Politico reports.
“Rumors swirled through the ninth-floor courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia, about what the delay could mean — from a looming guilty plea from the former Trump campaign manager, to Judge T.S. Ellis III conceding his second mistake in two days, to an issue with the jury — but there were no clear answers.”
Update: CNN reports the trial has resumed after a five hour delay.
“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,” Politico reports.
“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.”
“Lawyers for Paul Manafort accused his longtime deputy Rick Gates of having four extramarital affairs and lying about them, a last attempt by the defense to undermine the credibility of the government’s star witness at the fraud trial of Mr. Manafort on Wednesday,” the New York Times reports.
Washington Post: “The most jarring testimony Tuesday came when Paul Manafort’s lawyer Kevin Downing got his turn to question Gates. ‘There was another Richard Gates, isn’t that right? A secret Richard Gates?’ Downing asked.”
“Gates, who seemed to immediately understand the lawyer’s hint, began speaking in a quiet, strained voice, saying that about 10 years ago, he had ‘another relationship’ — an extramarital affair.”
“Asked if that affair had taken place in London, Gates said it had occurred there and other places. For around two months, Gates said, he had kept a separate apartment in London. Under questioning, he admitted he had also flown first class and stayed in luxury hotels as part of that relationship.”
“Gates also testified that he had used money embezzled from Manafort to help fund his relationship.”
Rick Gates testified that he and Paul Manafort held 15 foreign bank accounts that were not disclosed to the federal government, the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Gates admitted to a wide variety of crimes, including bank fraud, tax fraud, money laundering, lying to federal authorities, lying in a court deposition and stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Mr. Manafort’s accounts by falsely claiming expenses.”
“While giving testimony, Mr. Gates was grim and sober-faced, frequently looking down or straight ahead — but never looking at Mr. Manafort. Mr. Manafort stared back at Mr. Gates.”
Washington Post: “Repeatedly, Gates insisted that most of his crimes were committed at Manafort’s explicit instruction. At one point, he rattled off the names of a dozen overseas companies he said Manafort controlled; on prompting from prosecutors he identified three more.”
Washington Post: “Whom to believe — the accused liar, or the admitted one? A Virginia jury is expected to wrestle with that question this week, when it is scheduled to hear testimony from the former protege of Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman now facing trial on bank fraud and tax charges.”
“Rick Gates worked for years as Manafort’s right-hand man, managing his clients, his business, and his accounts. He also served as a senior Trump campaign aide and played a major role in planning the 2017 inauguration. This week, Gates begins a new role: star witness against his former boss and business partner.”
HuffPost: “Amid the headline-grabbing details about Manafort’s extravagant spending ― the $15,000 ostrich jacket, the thousands of dollars worth of suits, the red flowers in the shape of an ‘M’ ― prosecutors’ narrative about Manafort’s shady financial dealings is going to be difficult to refute.”
“Given the way the trial is unfolding ― and with yet another trial still on the agenda for Manafort in the District of Columbia ― hoping for a pardon or commutation from Trump might be Manafort’s best bet.”
Federal prosecutors prosecutors in the criminal trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort said that they might not call Manafort’s former business associate Richard Gates to testify, The Hill reports.
Said Assistant U.S. Attorney Uzo Asonye: “He may testify in this case, he may not.”
Paul Manafort “gave up his effort to challenge special counsel Robert Mueller in civil court,” CNN reports.
“The decision to drop the appeal comes one day before Manafort’s criminal trial is scheduled to begin in Virginia federal court. Manafort is accused of financial crimes, including bank fraud and tax evasion, relating to his lobbying work for the government of Ukraine… The unsuccessful civil lawsuit sought, among other things, to prevent Mueller from bringing additional charges in the future, including potential charges relating to Manafort’s work on the Trump campaign.”
“Prosecutors from special counsel Robert Mueller’s office said Monday that Paul Manafort earned $60 million from his work as a political consultant in Ukraine and challenged a motion by the former Trump campaign chairman’s attorneys to exclude dozens of exhibits on the topic,” CNN reports.
“Manafort is charged with lying on tax forms and bank fraud. He has denied all charges against him.”
Associated Press: “The trial, scheduled to begin Tuesday with jury selection in Alexandria, Virginia, will give the public its most detailed glimpse of evidence Mueller’s team has spent the year accumulating. It will feature testimony about the business dealings and foreign ties of a defendant Trump entrusted to run his campaign during a critical stretch in 2016, including during the Republican convention. And it will unfold at a delicate time for the president as Mueller’s team presses for an interview and as Trump escalates his attacks on an investigation he calls a ‘witch hunt.’”
“Adding to the intrigue is the expected spectacle of Manafort’s deputy, Rick Gates, testifying against him after cutting a plea deal with prosecutors, and the speculation that Manafort, who faces charges in two different courts and decades in prison if convicted, may be holding out for a pardon from Trump.”
Washington Post: The spectacular rise and fall of Paul Manafort.
“Donald Trump’s former chief adviser Steve Bannon has been in direct communication with former UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson, as both men plot new moves that could have a significant impact on European politics,” multiple sources told BuzzFeed News.
“A source who spent time with Bannon during the trip said Bannon was in private contact with Johnson while he was in Britain… A former UK government source told BuzzFeed News that Bannon and Johnson have known each other for some time, and exchanged text messages as far back as when Johnson was foreign secretary and Bannon worked in the White House.”
A federal judge has granted the request for five witnesses to testify with immunity in the criminal trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, CNN reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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