Government team rests in Manafort fraud trial
Legal ball now in court of ex-Trump campaign chairman’s attorneys
Prosecutors rest their case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort after two weeks of testimony detailing the million-dollar lies they say he told to the IRS and banks that loaned him money.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Prosecutors on Monday rested their tax evasion and bank fraud case in the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, closing two weeks of testimony that depicted him as using millions of dollars hidden in offshore accounts to fund a luxurious lifestyle — and later obtaining millions more in bank loans under false pretenses.
The trial of the longtime Washington operator turns to Manafort’s defense team, which has so far blamed any wrongdoing on Rick Gates, the former Manafort protégé who testified he and his former boss committed crimes together for years. Defense attorneys have called Gates a liar, philanderer and embezzler as they’ve sought to undermine his testimony.
Manafort’s lawyers have not said whether they will call any witnesses or present other evidence in the case. They will have to disclose that information
Tuesday.
The trial is the first to emerge from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, but it does not relate to any allegations of Russian election interference or possible coordination with the Trump campaign.
Trump keeps his distance
Still, the proceedings have drawn President Donald Trump’s attention — and tweets — as he works to undermine the standing of the Mueller investigation in the public square.
Trump has distanced himself from Manafort, who led the campaign from May to August 2016 — with Gates at his side. Gates struck a plea deal with prosecutors and provided much of the drama of the trial.
The government says Manafort hid at least $16 million in income from the IRS between 2010 and 2014 by disguising money he earned advising politicians in Ukraine as loans and hiding it in foreign banks. Then, after his money in Ukraine dried up, they allege he defrauded banks by lying about his income on loan applications and concealing other financial information.
Gates said he helped Manafort commit crimes in an effort to lower his tax bill and fund his lavish lifestyle.
The prosecution has introduced a trove of documentary evidence as it has sought to prove Manafort committed 18 separate criminal counts. Along the way, the prosecution not only faced an aggressive defense team but tongue-lashings from U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, who presides over the case. The admittedly impatient judge has pushed the government to speed its case.
Red flags raised
Before the government rested its case Monday afternoon, the court heard testimony from a bank executive who said he found several red flags with Manafort’s finances while he was being considered for more than $16 million in bank loans. James Brennan, a vice president at Federal Savings Bank, says Manafort failed to disclose mortgages on his loan application.
That information led senior executives to reject one of the loans. But Brennan said Federal Savings Bank chairman Stephen Calk overruled that decision.
Other witnesses have said Calk pushed the loans through because he wanted a post in the Trump administration.
Brennan said the Chicagobased bank lost at least $11.8 million because it had to write off the two loans, which he said were the two largest loans the bank had made at that time.
The prosecution also recalled a Treasury Department agent — over the objections of Manafort’s defense team — to testify that two of his companies hadn’t filed any reports disclosing the foreign bank accounts as required by federal law.
Senior special agent Paula Liss said the Treasury Department had no record of DMP International or Davis Manafort Partners filing such reports between 2011 and 2014.