Lawyers for Manafort, Gates fight back

Say money laundering charges are a ‘ facade’

“This is a criminal trial. It is not a public relations campaign.” U. S. District Judge Amy Jackson

WASHINGTON – Lawyers defending President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort mounted their first counterattack against federal money laundering and conspiracy charges Thursday, insisting that federal prosecutors had “embellished” the strength of their case.

Manafort and another former Trump aide, Rick Gates, have been under house arrest since Monday, when special counsel Robert Mueller unsealed a 12- count indictment tied to their work on behalf of a pro- Russia faction in Ukraine. The charges that both served as unregistered agents of a foreign government and then laundered their profits into the United States are part of Mueller’s wideranging investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election.

Manafort’s lawyers, Kevin Downing and Thomas Zehnle, said in a court filing Thursday that the case was overblown.

They said the laws governing Manafort’s work in Ukraine are unclear. The money laundering charges are just a “facade,” they said.

Their response came the day Manafort and Gates appeared briefly in federal court. U. S. District Judge Amy Jackson ordered that they stay on house arrest and GPS monitoring at least through the weekend, saying she had “concerns” that both men could be a flight risk.

Jackson also warned attorneys for both men — and in Mueller’s office — not to discuss the case with reporters and said she was considering issuing a gag order.

“This is a criminal trial,” she said. “It is not a public relations campaign.”