Former Trump Campaign Chair Put Himself above Law

Local Editor

US President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort put “himself and his money above the law” to bankroll a lavish lifestyle that included a $21,000 watch and a $15,000 jacket made from ostrich, a court heard on Tuesday.

“As the old adage goes, just follow the money,” assistant US attorney Uzo Asonye told the jury on the first day of the lobbyist and political consultant’s trial on 18 charges of bank fraud and tax evasion.

But Manafort’s defense sought to shift blame to his deputy, Rick Gates, and attempted to cast doubt on his forthcoming evidence by claiming that he betrayed Manafort’s trust and “had his hand in the cookie jar”.

The arguments were heard on the first day of the first trial arising from Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged collusion between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia. Mueller was not present in the courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia, and Trump’s name was not mentioned.

Even so, a pin could have been heard to drop as Asonye embarked on his opening statement. “A man in this courtroom believed the law did not apply to him,” he said, as Manafort looked on without expression. “No tax law, no banking law.”

The evidence gathered by Mueller’s team would show that Manafort funneled more than $60m in proceeds from his Ukrainian political consulting through offshore accounts and had hidden a “significant” portion of it from the IRS, the prosecutor continued. It funded multiple luxury homes, fast cars and “fancy clothes” worth half a million dollars.

That “secret income” had been used to pay for personal expenses such as a $21,000 watch, a $15,000 jacket made of ostrich and more than $6m worth of property paid for in cash, Asonye said. “He got whatever he wanted.”

The US district judge TS Ellis III interjected: “It isn’t a crime to have a lot of money and be profligate in your spending.”

But the evidence would show that Manafort had submitted false tax returns, committed bank fraud more than once and submitted fake documents or got others to do it for him, Asonye alleged. He had allegedly opened 30 bank accounts in three foreign countries to “receive and hide” his income. It came down, Asonye said, to one issue: “Did Paul Manafort lie?” He added: “Paul Manafort placed himself and his money above the law.”

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team