Dana Verkouteren via AP
- Rick Gates, Paul Manafort's former right-hand man, testified Tuesday that he cheated Manafort out of millions of dollars to finance an extramarital affair a decade ago.
- Gates also testified to several other exchanges with Manafort that appeared to show the two men conspiring to commit bank and tax fraud at Manafort's direction.
- The central facet of Manafort's defense is to throw a wrench through Gates' credibility.
- Manafort's lawyers also sought to cast a political shadow over Tuesday's proceedings when they questioned Gates about what the special counsel Robert Mueller had asked him about his work on President Donald Trump's campaign.
- "If they fight this battle on just the facts, it's a tough case," said one DOJ veteran.
- "If you're a defense lawyer, you want to talk about anything other than the facts here," they added. "So if you can taint the investigation as political in nature or a witch hunt, especially now, your hope is that it'll resonate with at least one juror and get your client off the hook."
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — Rick Gates, Paul Manafort’s former right-hand man, admitted Tuesday that he cheated Manafort out of millions of dollars to fund an extramarital affair.
Gates’ admission came Tuesday as he was testifying against Manafort in a high-stakes criminal trial, in which prosecutors have charged Manafort with over a dozen counts related to tax fraud, bank fraud, and a failure to report foreign bank accounts.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
NOW WATCH: North Korean defector: Kim Jong Un 'is a terrorist'
See Also:
- The first week of Paul Manafort's high-stakes criminal trial took off with a bang: Here's everything you need to know
- Manafort trial day 4: Prosecutors dive into the money trail and a key witness admits to helping Manafort commit financial fraud
- Prosecutors used Paul Manafort's bookkeeper to begin making a detailed case for the most substantial charges against him
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/2Ol4q22
No comments:
Post a Comment