![]() The special counsel’s office said it began looking into Manafort because of his connections to Russians, and it has accused one of his business partners in Ukraine of having ties to Russian intelligence. ![]() Mueller was appointed last year to investigate whether anyone from Trump’s team conspired with Russians to influence the presidential election. The firms were not named in court documents, but had been previously reported in the media: They are the investment banking firm Genesis Capital, Citizens Bank, Banc of California and Federal Savings Bank in Chicago. Manafort took notes during the prosecution’s opening statement.ĭuring jury questioning, Ellis disclosed the names of the financial institutions with which Manafort is alleged to have had dealings. ![]() “My wife says it’s one of my only virtues.”Īs the attorneys on both sides conferred about which jurors to strike from the list, Manafort whispered to his lawyers, who wrote on legal pads and riffled through papers. and sat in the front row.Įllis kept the mood in the courtroom light, telling anecdotes and eliciting laughs from time to time as he questioned the prospective jurors. His wife, Kathleen Manafort, arrived just before jury selection began at 10 a.m. Dressed in a dark suit and flanked by his attorneys, he appeared calm and expressionless. When Manafort arrived at 9 a.m., the dark-paneled courtroom was already filled to capacity. “Trump wouldn’t spend one second in prison for you!” another sign said. “Was the $18k karaoke machine worth it?” one protester’s sign read, referring to one of Manafort’s extravagant purchases. The Eastern District of Virginia, where the trial is taking place, has a reputation for speedy proceedings, and Tuesday morning was no exception, with Ellis taking just four hours to winnow the 60-member jury pool down to the final selections.īefore court opened, a small crowd of demonstrators gathered across the street from the federal courthouse in Alexandria. There are four alternates in case one of the original jurors isn’t able to complete his or her service. “It isn’t a crime to have a lot of money,” the judge said.Įarlier in the day, Ellis seated a jury of six menand six women. When Asonye dwelt on Manafort’s wealth, Ellis chided the prosecutor. ![]() Ellis III, who is overseeing the case, quickly established that he would be a forceful presence during the trial, interrupting the opening statements from both the prosecution and defense and urging them to focus on the evidence they plan to present to the jury. Over the years, he said, Manafort “rendered a valuable service to our system of government.” campaigns, describing him as a “talented political consultant and a good man.” The only thing Manafort is guilty of, Zehnle said, is “placing his trust in the wrong person.”īefore working in Ukraine, Manafort advised foreign dictators and warlords in Angola, Zaire and the Philippines - but Zehnle focused more on his experience guiding U.S. “Rick Gates had his hand in the cookie jar,” he said. The alleged crimes, defense attorney Thomas Zehnle suggested, were either fabricated or perpetrated by Gates, whom he accused of embezzling money from the consulting firm the two men ran. Gates has pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents and conspiring with Manafort, and has agreed to help prosecutors. Manafort’s team made clear that they would base his defense on undermining the credibility of Richard Gates, Manafort’s former longtime business partner, who worked with him in Ukraine and served as his deputy on Trump’s campaign.
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