Mueller Unveils Witness List For Manafort Trial Starting Next Week

Special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday filed his list of potential witnesses for the Paul Manafort trial, which is scheduled to start next week.

Among those who could be called to testify against the former Trump campaign chairman are his longtime business partner, Rick Gates; a Democratic strategist who worked on the Ukraine consulting projects with Manafort, Tad Devine; and Alex Trusko, a Manafort personal assistant who let an FBI agent enter Manafort’s storage unit last year.

Daniel Rabin, another Democratic consultant who worked with Manafort in Ukraine, may also be called to testify against him.

The identities of five of the potential witnesses listed in Friday’s filing from Mueller were previously made public after their immunized testimony was approved by the judge earlier this week. The 35 total potential witnesses in the government’s case are listed in alphabetical order.

The list includes employees — such as Kositzka, Wicks and Company accountants Philip Ayliff and NKSFB’s Heather Washkun — who worked at the bookkeeping and tax preparation firms used by Manafort, according to court docs.

A number of the potential witnesses appear to be employees at banks at which Manafort allegedly fraudulently obtained loans. Peggy Miceli and Taryn Rodriguez are a vice president and a loan officer assistant, respectively, at Citizens Bank which has been identified in media reports as “Lender B” in the Manafort indictment.

Potential witness Douglas DeLuca appears to be referenced on Mueller’s exhibit list in emails about landscaping invoices and a Manafort property in Virginia. Stephen Jacobsen, the owner of a company listed as a general contractor on renovation projects for Manafort’s homes in the Hamptons and in Brooklyn, is also on Mueller’s list. Mike Regolizio, one of the names on the list, is also the name of a president of a landscaping company in the Hamptons.

Mueller could call to the stand the Virginia realtor who helped Manafort buy a condo, Wayne Holland, who also testified in front of the grand jury last year. The Virginia condo was the Manafort residence raided by the FBI last summer.

Potential witness Maximillian Katzman appears to be the “M Katzman” referenced in emails described on Mueller’s exhibits list, including one titled “re Wire Transfers.” According to the LinkedIn profile for a Maximillian Katzman, he is the co-founder of Harrison James, which was described by a menswear industry magazine as a “retail/lifestyle ‘club’ that offered fine clothing, shaves, shoeshines, cigars and single malts.” Manafort’s indictment says that he wired $849,215 to a “men’s clothing store in New York.”

A LinkedIn profile identifies potential witness Irfan Kirimca as a senior director of ticket operations for the New York Yankees. According to a search warrant, Manafort claimed that a $300,000 debt on his American Express was due to a friend who used the card to buy Yankees Season tickets.

The list of potential witnesses also includes Daniel Opsut, who appears to be the comptroller at the Mercedes-Benz dealership in Alexandria, Virginia, where Manafort purchased a car, according to Mueller’s exhibit list for the trial.

Some of the witnesses appear to be related to real estate projects in Los Angeles where Manafort was partnering with his then-son-in-law Jeffrey Yohai, which involved some of the allegedly fraudulent loans. Gary Seferian works at Banc of California, which closed down accounts linked to the LA properties in 2016. His name is referenced with Yohai’s in emails described in Manafort’s exhibit, as is potential witness Kevin LaPorte’s name.