Caitlin MacNeal sends in this dispatch from the Manafort trial. The next witnesses expected to take the stand are Maximillian Katzman (an NYC menswear retailer), Ronald Wall (presumably a vendor Manafort used) and Daniel Opsut (comptroller of the Alexandria, Virginia Mercedes Benz).
More to come this afternoon.
I’m not sure whether or not it’s prejudicial as a technical matter. But I agree with the larger point from TPM Reader NB …
I read Tierney Sneed’s account of judge Ellis arguing that the term oligarch was derogatory and he didn’t want it used in front of the jury with some shock and dismay.
“We’re not going to have this case tried that he associated with despicable people,” Ellis said, referring to Manafort.
“That’s not the American way,” Ellis added.
Good Lord, watch this. We're going to be at "Collusion is Awesome!" by next week. pic.twitter.com/U2w52YvAxk
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) August 1, 2018
For Prime subscribers, Tierney Sneed’s account of a remarkably fast first day of trial for a high profile case: jury selection, opening statements, and the first witness all in under eight hours!
Important new reporting from CNN that special counsel Robert Mueller has referred several cases of failure to register as a foreign agent to federal prosecutors in Manhattan:
It’s always a bit hard to know what to make of polls of such wild questions. But Yahoo Finance used SurveyMonkey to poll all voters and particularly Republicans about whether or not they think it’s okay for Russia to help the Republican party in US elections. Trumpers have long been edging their way toward a “collusion is awesome” defense for some time. They’re in luck. Republicans are basically already there. Here are the numbers.
Looking toward the 2018 midterm, 11% of Republicans say it’s “appropriate” for Russia to help the GOP maintain control of Congress. Another 29% say it’s “not appropriate but wouldn’t be a big deal.” So fully 40% of Republicans, according to this poll, either think Russian election is assistance is actually great or at least aren’t going to lose any sleep over it. Read More
People frequently mock President Trump’s press strategies, or rather lack of strategies. They mock Rudy Giuliani’s floundering press appearances. Let’s put a finer point on this: I mock all of them! A lot. But recent days have seen a series of revelations that paradoxically show how relatively successful the President and his toadies have been in warning observers off more or less obvious conclusions about the President’s actions.
Consider the recent claims from Michael Cohen that President Trump knew about the Trump Tower collusion meeting in advance. Some pointed out that we shouldn’t take Michael Cohen’s apparent claims at face value. He lacks credibility. This is a massive understatement. Few people have more checks against his credibility than Cohen. Only President Trump is a more notorious liar. But an eagerness to believe the worst about President Trump isn’t the main reason many were and are inclined to believe this claim. Why would they? Because it’s really obvious that it is almost certainly true. Of course the President knew in advance. Read More
To have have any chance of acquittal, Paul Manafort is going to have to shred the credibility of Rick Gates, his former protege and the key prosecution witness against him, and his defense team lost no time in doing so in today’s opening statement to the jury.
TPM is hiring a reporter to join our investigations desk. Full listing after the jump. Read More