The judge at Manafort’s trial in federal court said Wednesday he does not want to hear the word \u00ab\u00a0oligarch\u00a0\u00bb during proceedings. Manafort, who headed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for several months in 2016, is accused by special counsel Robert Mueller of crimes related to consulting work for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine.<\/b>
\nA federal prosecutor sparked speculation Wednesday that Rick Gates, the \u00ab\u00a0star witness\u00a0\u00bb expected to testify at the of former Trump campaign boss Paul Manafort would not actually take the witness stand against his longtime business associate.
Also Wednesday, prosecutors presented detailed evidence about Manafort’s ultra-expensive tastes in clothing, silk rugs and watches, even as the trial judge pushed back hard on such tactics, saying prosecutors should not try to convict someone just \u00ab\u00a0because they wear nice suits.\u00a0\u00bb
Judge T. S. Ellis III repeatedly prodded prosecutors to speed up the pace of their case, which is only in its second day.
It was one such admonition by Ellis that led to an exchange about Gates, a former Trump campaign official himself who is considered crucial to the case being brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Gates was Manafort’s right-hand man in his consulting business.
\u00ab\u00a0He may testify in this case, your honor, he may not,\u00a0\u00bb said assistant U. S. Attorney Uzo Asonye in U. S. District Court in Alexandria, Va.
Hearing that, several reporters went scurrying \u00ab\u00a0out of [the courtroom] like rats on a sinking ship,\u00a0\u00bb quipped Ellis, to notify their readers of the potential bombshell in the case.
Asonye quickly tried to walk back his remark.
\u00ab\u00a0It’s not to suggest that we’re not calling him,\u00a0\u00bb he said.
The prosecution’s possibly flip remark about Gates came a day after Manafort’s lawyer in opening statements blamed the allegations against Manafort on \u00ab\u00a0one man: Rick Gates.\u00a0\u00bb
Thomas Zehnle said that Manafort had put \u00ab\u00a0his trust in the wrong person,\u00a0\u00bb referring to Gates who pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy and making false statements.
Later, the prosecution called a custom suit maker and a menswear retailer to the witness stand, where each testified that Manafort was among their most important clients.
Manfort had spent more than $900,000 over a five-year span at the retailer’s store, and paid for his purchases with transfers from overseas bank accounts \u2014 not by check.
FBI agent Matthew Mikuska earlier testified that Manafort had \u00ab\u00a0closets full\u00a0\u00bb of suits,\u00a0\u00bb and prosecutors showed jurors two invoices revealing a $66,000 purchase by Manafort for bespoke suits, and other invoices for silk rugs costing $160,000.
Ellis, showing his impatience at the drift of case, refused to let prosecutor Greg Andres ask the witness to total the annual invoices for those five years for the jurors’ benefit.
\u00ab\u00a0They can add,\u00a0\u00bb Ellis said.
He had also griped that prosecutors should limit their evidence to material that relates to Manafort’s alleged crimes and not his expensive tastes.
Ellis didn’t allow jurors to see photos of the suits, and had a tough time pronouncing the names of Manafort’s tailors at Alan Couture. \u00ab\u00a0If it doesn’t say Men’s Wearhouse, I don’t buy it,\u00a0\u00bb Ellis sniped.
While the trial was going on just miles away, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Wednesday that \u00ab\u00a0the president’s been clear. He thinks Paul Manfort’s been treated unfairly.\u00a0\u00bb
President Donald Trump earlier had tweeted that Manafort was being treated worse than legendary mobster Al Capone by prosecutors.
But Sanders would not answer whether Trump believes Manafort is innocent of his alleged crimes.
Manafort, 69, is accused of bank fraud and tax crimes in the Virginia case, the first of two planned federal trials on charges related to his consulting work from 2005 through 2014 for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.
Manafort, who has pleaded not guilty, is not accused of any involvement with Russians who allegedly tried to influence the 2016 presidential election.
However, the case against him has been brought by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the election, and possible collusion by Trump campaign officials in that effort.
Ellis, started Wednesday’s session in court by admonishing prosecutors and defense lawyers not to use the term \u00ab\u00a0oligarchs\u00a0\u00bb in referring to people mentioned in testimony.
Ellis said oligarch is a perjorative term that means someone who wields despotic power.
\u00ab\u00a0Principals in high schools are oligarchs in that sense,\u00a0\u00bb Ellis said. \u00ab\u00a0Mr. [George] Soros would then be an oligarch by that definition.\u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0So would Mr. Koch,\u00a0\u00bb the judge added, referring to one, or both, of the conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.
Manafort has known ties to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian aluminum magnate who is routinely referred to in the media as an oligarch. The FBI has said tax returns show that a company controlled by Manafort and his wife got a $10 million loan from Deripaska.
The FBI also has previously said that Deripaska funded Manafort’s consulting work in Ukraine when it first began.<\/p>\n

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