Manafort trial: Prosecution rests case against former Trump campaign chairman as defence asks Judge TS Ellis to dismiss charges
More than two dozen witnesses have testified during the case so far
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Your support makes all the difference.Prosecutors have rested their case against former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort after 10 days of testimony alleging how he avoided taxes on at least $16 million of income and lied to banks to maintain an extravagant lifestyle once his work for pro-Kremlin politicians in Ukraine dried up.
More than two dozen witnesses painted a picture of Mr Manafort, 69, as a lavish spender with little regard for the law. The prosecution allege that Mr Manafort stashed his money from his political consulting work in 31 undisclosed offshore bank accounts, and skirted taxes on that income by wiring it directly to vendors to snap up real estate, bespoke suits, cars and antique rugs. Mr Manafort denies all charges against him.
It is unclear whether Mr Manafort's lawyers will call any witnesses, and legal experts say it is highly unlikely that Mr Manafort himself will take the stand. Closing statements could take place as early as Tuesday, after which the 12-person jury will begin deliberating.
The trial was in its 10th day in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. The case arose from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
One of the last witnesses for the prosecution was James Brennan, an executive at Federal Savings Bank, which extended $16 million in loans to Mr Manafort.
Mr Brennan said bank president Javier Ubarri made an initial decision to reject a $9.5 million loan on Mr Manafort's Hampton estate, but bank CEO Steve Calk overruled it. “It closed because Mr Calk wanted it to close,” Mr Brennan said about the loan.
Mr Brennan, asked about whether the bank made money from lending to Mr Manafort, said the bank has written off the loans and “took a hit” of $11.8 million.
Prosecutors contend Mr Manafort hid a significant portion of the approximately $60 million he earned as a consultant for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, then lied to borrow millions more
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Reuters
Judge TS Ellis will then hear arguments regarding a sealed motion Mr Manafort's team filed this morning, and regarding a motion the prosecutors have filed to introduce more evidence through another witness, which appears to be Paula Liss - who has testified previously.
Jim Brennan, a vice president at Federal Savings Bank, has testified that a statement the bank got from Paul Manafort in August 2016 claiming $4.4 million in income the previous year was “inconsistent” with other records.
Several witnesses have testified that that the firm actually made less than $400,000 in 2015. Ex-Manafort employee Rick Gates testified that he sent the authentic profit-and-loss statement to his boss as a Word document so it could be doctored.
Mr Manafort denies all charges against him.
Mr Manafort's attorneys are arguing their client did not lie on loan applications because he was not the one to fill them out and in some instances did not realise he had done anything wrong.
During questioning by defence attorney Richard Westling, Mr Brennan admitted anyone at Mr Manafort's company was eligible to fill out the loan paperwork. However, the matter of how much the company actually made in 2015 remains the issue.
The loan paper work suggested the firm made more than $4m (£3.14m), but several witnesses have testified the revenue generated was more like $400,000 with no expectation to make much more at the time the loan documents were submitted to the bank in 2016.
Mr Brennan, still on the stand, confirmed Mr Manafort's loans are still outstanding.
He had put up two properties - $12 million house in the Hamptons, New York, and a $2.7 million condo in Alexandria, Virginia - as collateral but due to the terms of the loan the property did not constitute payment.
Mr Westling pressed Mr Brennan on the fact the banker knew Mr Manafort had no actual income in 2016 due to his voluntary position with the Trump campaign. He also tried to claim Mr Manafort's son-in-law, with whom he was doing real estate business, could have been the one to fill out the loan application though it was signed in Mr Manfort's name.
Mr Brennan said it was possible, but that did not preclude Mr Manafort from disclosing all his loan obligations, even ones not solely held by him as the application clearly stated.
Mr Brennan finished his testimony just ahead of the break with revelation about one loan Mr Manafort received to the tune of $5.9m (£4.6m), on a property in Bridgehampton, New York.
The bank vice president said the loan was initially rejected by one bank executive given Mr Manafort's credit score at the time - he had debt to American Express for nearly $300,000 in baseball season tickets for the New York Yankees among other debts.
"It closed becuase Mr. Calk wanted it to close," Mr Brennan said, referring to Steve Calk, the bank executive who testified last week and the jury heard say had been seeking a political appointment with the Trump administration.
Defence attorney Mr Westling is back to cross-examining Mr Brennan, vice president of Federal Savings Bank which administered millions in loans to Mr Manafort.
Mr Westling said the bank was in error - he pointed to instances where incorrect addresses were entered in one loan application while another error “made Mr Manafort’s income look better," all in an effort to take blame for the loans off of his client.
Mr Brennan then testified he was forced to give Mr Manfort's loan application a rating of 4, the lowest possible rating before rejecting it. It was Mr Calk who forced him to approve the loan, Mr Brennan said on the witness stand.
Before wrapping up his testimony, Mr Brennan said the two loans - worth $16m - given to Mr Manafort were the largest the bank has ever issued.
In December 2017, he told the FBI the bank had to write off a loss of around $11m because Mr Manafort had not paid, however none of the property the former foreign political operative had put up for collateral has been seized at this time.
Judge TS Ellis is set to rule on whether prosecutors can bring back a witness from the US Treasury Department, agent Paula Liss.
Ms Liss had already testified Mr Manafort did not report foreign bank accounts on his taxes, however now prosecutors want her to take the stand once again to confirm his company did not do so either.
Defence attorneys have argued Mr Manafort did not own more than 50 per cent of the consulting firm Davis Manafort International. His wife owned the other half and the pair filed joint tax returns.
“It’s very clear that if you do not own more than 50 percent of the entity, you do not have a responsibility,” Mr Manafort's lawyer Thomas Zehnle said.
Prosecutor Uzo Asonye said Mr Manafort said he owned the firm in full when filing as a foreign agent in 2017.
The defence also pointed out prosecutors did not accuse the firm, only their client, of filing false tax returns.
Judge TS Ellis has just ruled prosecutors can call back Paula Liss, a special agent with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team has said she would be their last witness.
Mr Ellis put a caveat on calling Ms Liss back to testify about Mr Manafort's company - he will be instructing the jury they cannot find Mr Manafort guilty for his company’s failures, but can use any of her testimony to determine the defendant's "willfulness" to not report more than 30 foreign accounts on his personal tax returns.
After Ms Liss' testimony, the judge will hear any motions to acquit Mr Manafort.
The special counsel’s office has called its final witness in its case in chief against Paul Manafort.
The special counsel’s last witness was Paula Liss, a special agent with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Ms Liss had testified early in the trial but was called back to be questioned about whether Mr Manafort’s companies had reported any foreign bank accounts between 2011 to 2014. Ms Liss said the department had no record of an such reports.
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