ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — Prosecutors and defense lawyers were told Tuesday to stop using the word “oligarch” to refer to the wealthy, pro-Russia politicians who…
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — Prosecutors and defense lawyers were told Tuesday to stop using the word “oligarch” to refer to the wealthy, pro-Russia politicians who employed President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager in Ukraine.
Federal Judge T. S. Ellis III said the term was “pejorative” and carried criminal connotations that suggested Paul Manafort “associated with despicable people, and therefore he is despicable.”
“That’s not the American way,” Ellis said.
He gave the order before the jury entered the courtroom for day 2 of Manafort’s trial on tax and bank fraud charges brought by Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, as part of his probe into suspected collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
Ellis noted that both “Mr. Soros” and “Mr. Koch” — apparent references to the politically active liberal financier George Soros and the conservative industrialists Charles and David Koch — could be considered oligarchs.
“But we wouldn’t call them oligarchs,” the judge said.
Both sides and a witness used the word “oligarch” during the first day of Manafort’s trial, and prosecutors objected to Ellis’ instruction, saying the term was relevant to the case.
Ellis told them to submit arguments in writing.
Manafort, 69, is accused of evading taxes on millions of dollars he got paid by Ukrainian pols, including former President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country with Russia’s help when he was ousted by Ukraine’s parliament in February 2014.
Manafort is also accused of lying to American banks to obtain millions of dollars in loans when his Ukrainian consulting and lobbying work dried up.
He faces a second trial in September on related charges of money laundering and failing to register as an agent of a foreign government.
