Thread by @BBuchman_CNS

#ManafortTrial THREAD (1/15)
Rick Gates has met with prosecutors at least 20 times in order to prepare for his testimony against Paul Manafort, he told prosecutor Greg Andres during direct examination Monday.

Gates also told jurors that if he violates the terms of his plea deal with the special counsel – reached in February – he is not entitled to a sentence reduction and his guilty plea will stand, he said.

Gates first began working on political consulting campaigns with Manafort in Ukraine in 2005 when Manafort introduced Gates to Rinat Akhmetov, a wealthy energy and steel magnate who founded the Party of Regions.

The Party of Regions would one day pay Manafort millions for his consulting, namely for his work in helping party leader Viktor Yanukovych win Ukraine’s presidency.

Akhmetov, Gates said, paid Manafort “through wire transfers from his own shell companies in Cyprus to Manafort’s shell companies in Cyprus.”
Describing Manafort as “one of the most politically brilliant strategists I’ve ever worked with,”Gates said he & the former Trump cmpgn chr

travelled frequently together and he watched up close as Manafort brought Yanukovych’s political career “back from the proverbial dead,” Gates said.
But when prosecutor Greg Andres tried to display Gates’ passport to show when and where he traveled with Manafort...

Judge Ellis stopped Andres short.
The passport was irrelevant, the judge said.
Andres hit back, saying it was the first time in the trial’s history that there was sharp focus on when and where Manafort and Gates did their work for Ukraine and within a specific timeframe.

“We need to focus sharply on what the indictments are… I hope you don’t intend to give a history of Ukraine, do you?” Ellis said.
“No, but I…” Andres was interrupted.
Ellis barked at the prosecutor: “Next question!”

When Andres tried again, Ellis raised his voice over the attorney.
“Next question,” Ellis said.
The exchange gave way to what appeared to be another heated exchange at the judge’s bench.

During a private conference, where the voices of the judge and attorneys are drowned out by a noise-cancelling machine, Ellis could be seen wagging his finger at Andres at one moment. Within a few minutes, Ellis’ voice could be heard just barely over the din of the noise-machine

After the jury left the courtroom, Ellis argued with Andres over the questions the prosecutor asked Gates about the details of political contributions in Ukraine.
Interested in moving the trial along, Ellis again challenged the relevance over prosecutor’s questions.

Ellis said he did not see why Andres needed Gates to explain to the jury that the oligarchs who hired Manafort stood to benefit personally from the candidate of their choice winning an election.

“I don’t ask Mr. Koch or Soros if they have anything to gain from any contributions they make,” Ellis said.
Andres explained he needs to show the flow of money from Ukraine to Manafort and that it was only fair to explain to the jury the true nature of the payments.

Ellis insisted Andres should condense his remaining arguments to speed the trial along, saying the case is not “as complex as it could be made to be.”
The argument became heated at times, with Ellis asking Andres to raise his eyes after the prosecutor looked down.

Ellis then repeated an earlier admonition that attorneys stop rolling their eyes during trial. Insisting he was not being disrespectful, Andres called into question how Ellis could have seen him roll his eyes if he was looking down.