Manafort defence takes final shot at aide
ALEXANDRIA, VA. • Without a parting glance, Rick Gates left the witness stand Wednesday after three days of testimony that prosecutors hope will seal a guilty verdict against his former boss, Paul Manafort, on tax and bank fraud charges.
Gates, the star witness at Manafort’s trial in Alexandria, Va., portrayed Manafort as a demanding boss who directed a years-long scheme to hide millions of dollars from the IRS in foreign bank accounts, and used that money to spend a fortune on expensive suits, homes, and home entertainment systems. Gates also admitted to embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from Manafort.
The case is a critical public test of the work done by special counsel Robert Mueller, as Manafort is the first person charged by Mueller’s office to go to trial. More than a dozen witnesses have told the court how Manafort and Gates, political consultants who once held senior positions in the Trump campaign, spent years stashing cash overseas.
Manafort’s defence strategy has been to blame Gates for any wrongdoing.
Defence lawyer Kevin Downing took one final shot at Gates before he left the witness stand Wednesday, accusing him of engaging in more marital infidelity than Gates
I’D SAY I MADE MANY MISTAKES OVER MANY YEARS.
acknowledged earlier. Under previous questioning, Gates had admitted to a transatlantic affair 10 years ago.
Downing asked if he had told the special counsel’s office that “you actually engaged in four extramarital affairs.” The attorney appeared to be trying to show that even in his court testimony, Gates was still not telling the full truth. But after a lengthy sidebar before U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis, Downing asked a different question, whether Gates’ “secret life” continued into the 20102014 time period.
Those are the years prosecutors have focused on in attempting to prove that Manafort hid about US$15 million in income from the IRS.
“Mr. Downing, I’d say I made many mistakes, over many years,” Gates answered.
Gates worked for Manafort for more than a decade before the pair were indicted last year on bank fraud and tax charges. In February, Gates pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and conspiring against the United States. Under sentencing guidelines, he could get roughly five to six years in prison.
The prosecution’s next witness, IRS agent Michael Welch, testified Manafort paid out more than US$15.5 million to vendors between 2010 and 2014, without reporting and paying taxes on that money.