Bookkeeper testifies Manafort OK’d “every penny” of bills

ALEXANDRIA, VA.» Paul Manafort’s bookkeeper testified Thursday that the former Trump campaign chairman kept her in the dark about the foreign bank accounts he was using to pay for millions of dollars of luxury items and personal expenses.

But he otherwise approved “every penny” of the personal bills she paid for him, said Heather Washkuhn of the accounting firm NKFSB.

Washkuhn’s testimony on the third day of the trial appeared to undercut an argument by Manafort’s attorneys that he can’t be responsible for financial fraud because he left the details of his spending to others, including his longtime associate Rick Gates. Washkuhn said Gates was involved only in Manafort’s business dealings, not his personal expenses.

When it came to personal expenses, Manafort “approved every penny of everything we paid,” Washkuhn told jurors.

Manafort faces charges of bank fraud and tax evasion that could put him in prison for the rest of his life. It’s the first courtroom test of the work of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is tasked with looking into Russia’s efforts to interfere with the U.S. election and whether the Trump presidential campaign colluded with Moscow to sway voters.

While the question of collusion remains unanswered, Manafort’s financial fraud trial has exposed the lucrative and secretive world of foreign lobbying that made Manafort rich.

Other witnesses testifying this week said Manafort paid them millions from the offshore accounts tied to foreign shell companies for landscaping, expensive clothing and even a karaoke machine.

When prosecutor Greg Andres read off some of the companies to Manafort’s bookkeeper, she said Manafort never told her about them. She said she would have documented them for tax purposes if he had.