Despite reports that Manafort is in talks to reach a plea deal and avoid a 2nd trial, prosecutors pushed ahead with trial preparation Wednesday in a trial brief responding to Manafort's request to suppress trial exhibits @CourthouseNews documentcloud.org/documents/4872…
Manafort's objections to more than 1,000 gov. exhibits were based on relevance, hearsay, authentication and whether some of the proposed stipulations were properly summarized. Most of the exhibits appear to be financial records, memos and emails re: his Ukrainian lobbying work.
Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said Wed. that expenditures from his unreported, untaxed income relate directly to the obstruction of justice charges and said "there can be little question as to their relevance." As a refresher, Manafort was jailed following a superseding indictment.
That indictment accused him of trying to sway the testimony of two potential witnesses in the case (the only reason prosecutors knew about this is because the witnesses came forward and accused Manafort of trying to suborn their testimony) who acted as intermediaries...
...between Manafort, his Russian right-hand man Konstantin Kilimnik, and a collection of former senior European officials known as the Hapsburg Group, who lobbied secretly for Ukraine in the United States (Kilimnik was indicted for obstruction w/Manafort but has yet to appear).
Manafort wants to suppress 2 memos he wrote that Weissmann says will show he had an established relationship w/Rinat Akhmetov, who the brief describes as a prominent Ukrainian businessman that financed and supported the Party of Regions, which paid Manafort for his lobbying work.
Manafort also wants to suppress an email he wrote to former Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovich where he says he is "managing" a gov. relations program on behalf of Y that M says he "created and paid for himself." Other memos Manafort wants suppressed indicate that he...
...directed the work of the Hapsburg group/US-based consultants who were also working in a gov. relations campaign on behalf of Yanukovich. Manafort, Weissmann says, often conveyed instructions to his agents through docs. passed along by his former business associate Rick Gates.
Weissmann says none of this constitutes hearsay: "Other statements, including emails, are admissible as coconspirator statements pursuant to Rule 801(d)(2)(E). Under that rule, a statement is not hearsay if it “is offered against an opposing party and...
...was made by the party’s coconspirator during and in furtherance of the conspiracy." Today's pretrial conference has been rescheduled for Friday. Stay tuned ya'll - time will tell if Manafort actually strikes a deal or if this thing is moving forward w/jury selection Mon. END.
