Judge contrite for scolding prosecutors

He agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors and has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and lying to the FBI.

Trump was indirectly referenced in multiple ways throughout the testimony, highlighting the risks to the president of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Prosecutors summoned Mr Gates to give jurors the first-hand account of a co-conspirator they say helped Mr Manafort carry out an elaborate offshore tax-evasion and bank fraud scheme.

The vendors testified about how Manafort paid for his luxury goods, including cars and custom suits, by using direct wire transfers from accounts overseas.

The additional purchases cited during Welch’s testimony included $132,000 for the business International Yacht Collection, $45,000 for a cosmetic dentist north of Palm Beach.

Manafort, seated at the defence table, stared intently at Gates while his defence attorney hammered him with aggressive questions, but his former business partner carefully avoided his gaze.

Before Gates could respond to the question or Downing could provide evidence that Gates lied about the alleged affairs, Judge T.S. Ellis III forced the lawyer to change directions.

“This jury is just supposed to believe you after all the lies that you’ve told and the fraud you’ve committed?” asked Downing.

But Downing wasn’t able to re-ask Gates about four extramarital affairs.

Gates, who is 46 and married, admitted: “There was a period in my life, about 10 years ago, when I had a relationship, yes”. “I was probably wrong in that”, Ellis said to kick off the trial proceedings Thursday morning.

Some lawyers following the trial also criticized Ellis for not reacting more strongly to defense lawyer Kevin Downing’s attempt to ask the government’s star witness Rick Gates on Wednesday whether he had told prosecutors about his four extramarital affairs.

In December 2016, Manafort sent an “urgent” email to Gates including Calk and Calk’s son on a list of people Manafort wanted to receive invitations to Trump’s inauguration.

The still-secret conversation occurred Tuesday afternoon in the middle of Gates’ testimony against Manafort, who served as Trump’s campaign chairman in 2016.

Gates, who had been on stand for more than seven hours by conclusion of Tuesday’s testimony, is anticipated to be on stand for an additional hour more of cross-examination, according to Manafort’s attorneys.

Downing asking, drawing an immediate objection from Greg Andres, the special counsel’s lead prosecutor.

Gates’ testified that he and Manafort knew they were committing crimes for years.

Ellis appears to have singled out Andres, said Litman, who appeared before Ellis while he was with the Justice Department for roughly five years in the mid-1990s.

The exchange concluded Gates’ appearance in the Manafort trial.

An FBI forensic accountant is telling the jury in Paul Manafort’s financial fraud trial how she traced millions of dollars of payments for mortgages, home improvements and expensive cars, rugs and clothes back to his hidden foreign bank accounts. With the emails, prosecutors sought to show that Manafort controlled undeclared accounts that took in money from his Ukrainian clients and sent money to the USA for his personal use.

Funds “should be in your account today”.

Magionos also walked jurors through charts breaking down the movement of Cyprus money to specific vendors and for use in a series of NY real estate transactions.

Ellis even took aim at journalists, threatening on Monday to kick reporters out of the courtroom if they continue being “disruptive”.

Ellis has repeatedly pushed prosecutors to whittle down their case to save time.

Prosecutors had asked Ellis to instruct the jury that they hadn’t done anything improper in an attempt to fix any unfair prejudice.

Andres said his side has focused sharply on the accusations they need to prove. “Now we need to bring it to a close, and it’s lunchtime”. The jury had not yet returned to the courtroom.