ALEXANDRIA, VA — Former Paul Manafort deputy Rick Gates took the stand Monday afternoon.
After some questions as to whether Gates would testify on Monday, he took the stand at around 4:15 p.m. ET. So far he has mostly answered biographical questions. Gates said he most recently worked for a presidential candidate, but did not name Donald Trump. Gates served as Trump’s deputy campaign manager and later worked on Trump’s inauguration.
Asked at the trial how often Gates communicated with Manafort, Gates said he often communicated with him daily.
Gates was Manafort’s right-hand man during the pair’s lobbying work in Ukraine. Special counsel Robert Mueller originally charged Gates alongside Manafort, but Gates reached a plea deal with Mueller in exchange for cooperating in the investigation.
Gates has been expected to be the prosecution’s star witness in the case.
Manafort is on trial here facing bank and tax fraud charges. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
I would have prefered Indictment Friday, but Flipping Monday works, too…
I was sort of surprised he is right out the Gates today.
Pun aside, I am surprised at how fast this is going.
“One Schadenfreude chimi to go, please.”
Oh good. Though not the main point of this trial, Gates was presumably at the pre-meeting running up to the actual conspiracy meeting at Trump Tower. So hard to keep all the collusion straight…but it probably means a weekend chock full of crazy-ass tweets from the crazy-ass buffoon in charge.
Is this the right time to get popcorn ready? I know my afternoon is pretty shot as it is now.
"Defense attorney Kevin Downing made the revelation toward the end of his cross examination of one of Manafort’s accountants. As he tried to question the accountant, Cindy Laporta, about what he said was Gates embezzling from Manafort, a prosecutor interrupted, saying he should not be allowed to ask about facts that were not yet in evidence. Downing thundered back that prosecutors knew such facts might soon be discussed, adding, “Mr. Gates is next up.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2018/08/06/paul-manafort-trial-day-5-live-updates/?utm_term=.f07071ad121d