ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Prosecutors on Monday rested their tax evasion and bank fraud case in the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, closing two weeks of testimony that depicted him as using millions of dollars hidden in offshore accounts to fund a luxurious lifestyle — and later obtaining millions more in bank loans under false pretenses.
The trial of the longtime Washington operator now turns to Manafort’s defense team, which has so far blamed any wrongdoing on Rick Gates, the former Manafort protege who testified he and his former boss committed crimes together for years. Defense attorneys have called Gates a liar, philanderer and embezzler as they’ve sought to undermine his testimony.
Manafort’s lawyers have not yet said whether they will call any witnesses or present other evidence in the case. They will have to disclose that information Tuesday as the case reaches its final stages.
The trial is the first to emerge from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, but it does not relate to any allegations of Russian election interference or possible coordination with the Trump campaign. Neither Manafort nor Gates have been charged in connection with their Trump campaign work.
Still, the proceedings have drawn President Donald Trump’s attention — and tweets — as he works to undermine the standing of the Mueller investigation in the public square.
Trump has distanced himself from Manafort, who led the campaign from May to August 2016 — with Gates at his side. Gates struck a plea deal with prosecutors and provided much of the drama of the trial so far.
The government says Manafort hid at least $16 million in income from the IRS between 2010 and 2014 by disguising money he earned advising politicians in Ukraine as loans and hiding it in foreign banks. Then, after his money in Ukraine dried up, they allege he defrauded banks by lying about his income on loan applications and concealing other financial information, such as mortgages.
Gates said he helped Manafort commit crimes in an effort to lower his tax bill and fund his lavish lifestyle. During testimony, Gates was forced to admit embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from Manafort and conducting an extramarital affair.
The prosecution has introduced a trove of documentary evidence as they’ve sought to prove Manafort committed 18 separate criminal counts. Along the way, they’ve not only faced an aggressive defense team but tongue-lashings from U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, who presides over the case. The admittedly impatient judge has pushed the government to speed up its case.
Before the government rested its case Monday afternoon, the court heard testimony from a bank executive who said he found several red flags with Manafort’s finances while he was being considered for more than $16 million in bank loans.
James Brennan, a vice president at Federal Savings Bank, says Manafort failed to disclose mortgages on his loan application. He said he also found several “inconsistencies” in the amount of income Manafort reported for his business.
That information led senior executives to reject one of the loans. But Brennan said Federal Savings Bank chairman Stephen Calk overruled that decision.
“It closed because Mr. Calk wanted it to close,” Brennan said.
Other witnesses have said Calk pushed the loans through because he wanted a post in the Trump administration.
Emails admitted into evidence in the trial show that in the weeks after the 2016 election, Manafort lobbied Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to consider Calk for Secretary of the Army, a position Calk had put at the top of his list in an earlier email to Manafort. Calk also listed seven other senior domestic appointments and 18 ambassadorships — ranked in order of preference — that he would accept.
In the Nov. 30, 2016, email to Kushner, Manafort passed along Calk’s resume along with two other names of people he said “should be a part of the Trump administration.”
“The 3 individuals are people who I believe advance DT agenda. They will be totally reliable and responsive to the Trump White House,” Manafort wrote, providing brief biographies for Calk and the other two candidates.
Manafort noted Calk’s background was “strong in defense issues, management and finance.” He also listed three “alternative positions” in the Treasury and Commerce departments.
Kushner responded, “On it!”
Calk ultimately did not get an administration post, though he did approve the loans for Manafort.
Brennan said the Chicago-based bank lost at least $11.8 million because it had to write off the two loans, which he said were the two largest the bank had made at that time.
The prosecution also recalled a Treasury Department agent — over the objections of Manafort’s defense team — to testify that two of his companies hadn’t filed any reports disclosing the foreign bank accounts as required by federal law.
Senior special agent Paula Liss said the Treasury Department had no record of DMP International or Davis Manafort Partners filing such reports between 2011 and 2014.
Liss’ testimony came after Manafort’s attorneys signaled they intend to argue that the offshore accounts that he used to pay for millions of dollars in personal expenses, such as fancy suits, landscaping, rugs and homes, were actually controlled by the company and not him personally.
Late Monday, Manafort’s team also made a motion to dismiss all the charges, saying the government hadn’t met its burden of proof. Ellis took the motion under advisement.
Ellis also closed the courtroom from the public while he heard arguments on a sealed motion filed by Manafort’s team. Ellis said the proceedings and the motion will be kept secret until after the case concludes.
The closed hearing came after the judge delayed Manafort’s trial for hours last Friday without explanation. The judge left the courtroom that day toward the jury room, and later admonished jurors repeatedly to not discuss the case.
———
Read the emails: http://apne.ws/eQShubl
Techno-anarchy Manifesto
Technology makes laws less enforceable each day. Skimmers, scanners stealing credit and debit card information from 10 feet way, stealing your car, and high-resolution scanners making prosecution for forgery impossible. Your signature and social security number are everywhere. Overseas trust funds and foreign payment processors means governments cannot collect taxes and lawyers cannot collect judgments. Without privatization, all public sector workers lose their jobs and the needy will lose their benefits. Guns are bought on the Internet or manufactured at home, plastic, elusive, and fully automatic, with 3D printers, easy to hide. Activists like Elle Goldman are encouraging more petty theft, knowing you’re more than likely to get away with it, and the increasing homeless and illegal alien population consider jail to be Holiday Inn, knowing they won’t be there for long with all the prison budget cuts. The many ex-cons who can’t find jobs have no other choice but to re-offend and are being recruited as hit men against rival drug cartels and the family members of police and prosecutors. It will get worse before it gets better, because the media works with the authorities to keep 3 years of dozens of manifestos sent to hundreds of thousands of recipients a secret just to abuse power.
But what is the media? It is everyone.
The need to get rid of capitalism is predicated on using technology that produces all goods and services, and the land becomes free. We have had technology for some time now where people and the exploitation of human labor is unnecessary. Gluttony is self-limiting because of better rehab, shaming, boycotts, the profitability of recycling, and reverse social Darwinism giving way to social Darwinism. People will live forever with chip implants to proactively police one another, watch out for one another’s health knowing each others’ vital signs, etc. It will happen sooner than you think as high-tech business people cannot survive without pushing total automation, for those who are in denial or in horror, it only leads to divide and conquer. That’s why I created https://www.PandaBusters.com to perfect independent artificial intelligence.
The authorities are now being exposed for not reporting these manifestos and not protecting the public because of their “take the money and run” attitude. They can run but they can’t hide, with civilian integration of covert cameras and packet sniffers. And they have not reported dead pools for cops, prosecutors, and the same journalists who have been shunned by the FBI and Orange County Sheriff’s Department after placing me on top of the FBI’s most wanted list for 3 years. That is why there is more mass awareness for https://www.DeadPoolForThePolice.fun, and https://www.DeadPoolForTheMedia.fun, with links back to https://www.AnarchyForever.com/lotteries/formmail where those who have received these successful form submissions are known to the others in an increasing campaign of guaranteed universal awareness.
“Those that leadeth into captivity must be lead into captivity. Those that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.” Revelation 13:10.
Sincerely,
James Dante Wood
https://www.AnarchyForever.com
Polly’s Angel Avenger
The high misery index from high taxes, worst economy ever, where the polarization between the haves and have-nots has not been worse, as the rich don’t pay taxes, but benefit from less competition from the poor and middle-class, who are nickel-and-dimed and regulated to death. The highest homeless and crime rate ever, more abuse from those in power because of better technolgy making laws unenforceable as ID theft, high resolution scanners and skimmers making it impossible to prosecute, and most of the victims are the poor because of bank, landlord, and institutional scams, who become homeless just because of bad credit, because of no fault of their own, and competition for shrinking home inventory.
The good news is tax laws and gun laws are less enforceable, and as people embrace International tax exemptions and tax audit insurance, they are finding out there are legal ways to wipe out the government overnight. But the media won’t report it. The expensive jails mean everyone are getting out, so you’re going to need a gun, especially if you’re homeless. In California, because of the high undocumented population and immense homeless population, people who consider jail to be Holiday Inn, but know they’re less likely to get convicted or spend much time in jail, now is the time for a revolution, even if bloody. It’s either you or them. Madder than Hell and not going to take it anymore, a viral campaign of those who cannot and will not fear death. Too many with nothing to lose and everything to gain.
With 3D printers, you can print anything. Food, clothing, guns, recycle bottles for the resin material, use solar power, etc. There is technology the rich are trying to corner-the-market on where you don’t need people, so the need for the ugly masses and mob to get violent are paramount. Fear not the cops and the national guard, as they know they’re not going to have jobs from the tax revolt. Do not become the sucker born every minute who will die every minute and be mocked indefinitely. Many cops are getting killed and are quitting, expect that trend to continue.
Verification of form mail submissions and the reading of these manifestos will continue at https://www.AnarchyForever.com/formmail, by the tens of thousands, with guaranteed FBI involvement, making them and more cops paranoid, more word of mouth transmissions, etc.
Sincerely,
James Dante Wood
https://www.AnarchyForever.com
Polly’s Angel Avenger