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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Crook vs Crook Open Thread: The Manafort Trial, Day Five (Monday)

Crook vs Crook Open Thread: The Manafort Trial, Day Five (Monday)

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Per the Washington Post:

Rick Gates — the star witness against President Trump’s former campaign chairman — admitted in federal court Monday that he committed a host of crimes with his former boss, and confessed to stealing from him and others.

In his first hour on the witness stand, Gates catalogued years of illegal activity, saying most of his wrongdoing was committed on behalf of his former boss, Paul Manafort, while other crimes were for his own benefit, including the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Gates also made clear that he was testifying against Manafort with the hope of receiving a lesser prison sentence, having pleaded guilty in February as part of a deal with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III…

Inside the courthouse Monday, Gates’s testimony against Manafort marked a shattering end to a relationship that made the two political consultants millions of dollars working for foreign politicians and led them both to prominent positions in the Trump campaign.

Wearing a blue suit and gold tie, Gates strode to the witness stand shortly after 4 p.m. Prosecutor Greg Andres wasted little time before cutting to the heart of the issue.

“Did you commit crimes with Mr. Manafort?” Andres asked Gates.

“Yes,” Gates responded.

For most of his testimony, Gates did not look at Manafort, while the defendant stared intently at his former business partner…

Prosecutors did not finish their questioning of Gates on Monday, and he is scheduled to return to the witness stand Tuesday…


Reader Interactions

71Comments

  2. 2.

    A Ghost To Most

    It’s like watching the Patriots vs the Cowboys. I’m rooting for injuries, if not fatalities.

  3. 3.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    What a bunch of scumbags. It’s no wonder Trump was drawn to these shits. I guess they all deserve each other. Seems like a fitting punishment would be to take the president, his family, this whole administration and everybody who worked on his campaign or for his shitty business and stick them on some island somewhere, all together, all alone with each other, forever.

  4. 4.

    SFAW

    Lying Littledick hired nothing but the best coffee boys.

    Whom he never met, didn’t know their names, etc.

  5. 5.

    Gin & Tonic

    Did Gates finish on direct yesterday? I never saw anything authoritative on that, just various lawyerly musings about whether it’s better or worse for the prosecution to have him finish.

  7. 7.

    Gin & Tonic

    @SFAW: There is zero probability that Trump didn’t know exactly who Manafort was and why he was taking him on. Manafort and asshole Stone have been working together for decades, and Stone seems to have a direct line to Trump.

  9. 9.

    Redshift

    @Gin & Tonic:

    There is zero probability that Trump didn’t know exactly who Manafort was and why he was taking him on. Manafort and asshole Stone have been working together for decades, and Stone seems to have a direct line to Trump.

    I imagine the careful vetting went something like this:

    Stone: Remember that really shady guy we know, who will lie, cheat, and steal to win? He says he’ll work for nothing.

    Trump: When can he start?

  10. 10.

    Jeffro

    @A Ghost To Most:

    It’s like watching the Patriots vs the Cowboys. I’m rooting for injuries, if not fatalities.

    OMG YOU TOO?!?

    It’s odd every fall weekend, finding myself rooting for teams like the Jets, Dolphins, and Giants. (Easy to root for the Eagles, though, and boy wasn’t last year’s Super Bowl the BESTEST EVAH!)

    “You want Philly Philly?” HELL YEAH WE WANT “PHILLY PHILLY”!!!

    ahem…where was I?

  12. 12.

    Percysowner

    Proving the axiom that there really is “no honor among thieves” and boy are they ALL thieves, eversingle one of them and traitorstoo.

  17. 17.

    jonas

    Don’t forget that Trump’s inaugural committee was chaired by billionaire developer and Trump friend Tom Barrack, who appears to have been a key figure in getting Manafort his gig with the Trump campaign to begin with. As soon as that happened, all these Russians start coming out of the woodwork, wooing people like Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, and Don, Jr. with offers to share “dirt” on Clinton. Before he was indicted, Gates was back working for Barrack, IIRC.

  18. 18.

    hueyplong

    @Roger Moore:Pretty sure that we’d get similarly satisfying results regardless of the presence or absence of food and tools.

    That’s kind of the point.

  19. 19.

    Elizabelle

    @jonas: Oooh. That’s an interesting thread to pull. Pretty sure Barrack is in Team Mueller’s sights. Maybe he’s a money launderer and tax evader too. He does not seem to be shooting his mouth off as much of late.

  20. 20.

    Dave

    @Roger Moore: I’d actually provide a modest but sustainable amount of resources and just fill the outcome both as a cautionary tale and for the schadenfreude.

  21. 21.

    randy khan

    @CarolDuhart2:

    Crook vs. Crook. It might come down to who the jury likes less.

    First, Manafort has to testify for the jury to have that choice, and I’d be, ah, surprised if he did.

    But more important, a lot of this case is about documents, and there’s also already been a ton of testimony from people who said that Manafort himself told them to do things, or asked to pay for things via foreign bank transfers. That means that the Gates testimony is just adding on to much of that, and his credibility is improved where he confirms things that other people said. (I have to say that I’m wondering if the value Gates is providing on Manafort relates more to helping the prosecutors piece everything together than to his testimony, anyway.)

  22. 22.

    Downpuppy

    @Redshift: Since Manafort lived on the 43rd floor of Trump Tower from 2006 to 2016, the answer was “He’s in the escalator with 3 more of your russian handlers”

  23. 23.

    Gelfling 545

    @Roger Moore: Wouldn’t matter. What would they do with them? I’m reminded of an older friend’s stories of her White Russian relatives who came here after the revolution. Her great grandmother had never combed her own hair. Her great uncle used to buy meat at the butcher shop and put it in the oven still wrapped in its paper. I’d expect similar results for the Trumps et al.

  24. 24.

    hueyplong

    Some of Gates’ value is Trump’s experience of following the testimony and recalling that he himself also had conversations with Gates.

    Mueller is kind of like a boa constrictor.

  27. 27.

    randy khan

    @Roger Moore:

    I hope you aren’t planning on putting any food or tools on this island.

    Well, maybe some tools. Heavy ones and ones with sharp edges.

  28. 28.

    SFAW

    @Roger Moore:

    I hope you aren’t planning on putting any food or tools on this island.

    No, but there will be guns. Lots and lots of guns.
    And testosterone supplements

  31. 31.

    SFAW

    @Gin & Tonic:

    There is zero probability that Trump didn’t know exactly who Manafort was and why he was taking him on. Manafort and asshole Stone have been working together for decades, and Stone seems to have a direct line to Trump.

    I may have been confusing Manafort with someone else, but I was under the impression that Shitgibbon had known Manafort for a number of years before he asked Manafort to resuscitate his campaign become a coffee boy.

  32. 32.

    Mike in NC

    On PBS tonight, Frontline is covering the riot in Charlottesville, VA last year. The one where a certain degenerate Fat Bastard said that there were “many good people on many sides” involved.

  33. 33.

    rikyrah

    Would that be the inaugural committee that raised a shit ton of money that is still unaccounted for? https://t.co/yC9qsDz8rV

    — Schooley (@Rschooley) August 7, 2018

    Hmmmmm

    You know, they are probably right…Gates knows where the Inaugural slush fund went…

  34. 34.

    SFAW

    @dmsilev:

    No, but there will be TV cameras.

    I think the World Court would consider it a Crime Against Humanity if vids of a partially-clothed Whale-in-Chief were broadcast.

  35. 35.

    SFAW

    @hueyplong:

    Pretty sure that we’d get similarly satisfying results regardless of the presence or absence of food and tools.

    I understand your point, but why leave anything to chance?

  36. 36.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @randy khan: Sure. Hammers for instance. You might think that hammers are way too useful a thing to grace this crowd with, but (a) likely none of them has ever used one and (b) remember the old saying, “when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail”.

    Hilarity ensues.

  38. 38.

    SFAW

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    remember the old saying, “when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail”.

    Brain bleach trigger warning/alert!

    I think it would be good fun when Shitgibbon looked down, thought he was seeing a 2d finish nail sticking out of there, and tried to hammer it flush with a 24 oz framing hammer.

    Can’t say I didn’t warn ya.

  39. 39.

    LAO

    I can’t help but feel that the real fun will start during Gates cross-examination. We shall see how well Mueller’s team prepared Gates.

  41. 41.

    Doug R

    @Roger Moore:

    Seems like a fitting punishment would be to take the president, his family, this whole administration and everybody who worked on his campaign or for his shitty business and stick them on some island somewhere, all together, all alone with each other, forever.

    I hope you aren’t planning on putting any food or tools on this island.

    Sounds like the rat island with the coconut in a barrel in Skyfall. “Plunk, plunk”
    “Last rat standing”.

  42. 42.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    No, the Trumper’s marooned on an island should get lots of supplies, but no boat-building tools.

    But the island needs to be INCHES above sea-level, so that they can appreciate Global Warming. Slowly.

  43. 43.

    Leto

    @chris:

    Guy of Gisborne: Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe?

    Sheriff of Nottingham: Because it’s dull, you twit. It’ll hurt more!

  44. 44.

    The Dangerman

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    Seems like a fitting punishment would be to take the president, his family, this whole administration and everybody who worked on his campaign or for his shitty business and stick them on some island somewhere, all together, all alone with each other, forever.

    Maybe Alcatraz can be borrowed for a while; if we keep them locked in the cells, I bet we could up the ticket sales.

  45. 45.

    rikyrah

    I hope a FRONT PAGER will take a look at this.

    NBC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Now the Trump administration wants to limit citizenship for legal immigrantshttps://t.co/9D8COht8Nn pic.twitter.com/iiWmcs0mML

    — Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) August 7, 2018

  46. 46.

    A Ghost To Most

    @Jeffro:
    As bad as things are, I’ll always have the Capitals this year. That was something I’d given up hope for.

  48. 48.

    low-tech cyclist

    @Roger Moore:

    I hope you aren’t planning on putting any food or tools on this island.

    I would. I would want them to ‘enjoy’ their captivity, and each other’s company, for a long, long, loooooooong time.

  50. 50.

    Peale

    @rikyrah: Since almost all people coming to the country on refugee status arrive very poor and are hooked into social services as they get adjusted, they are blanket excluding all refugees from ever getting green cards, which has been automatic. I’m not certain what status they would end up with since permanent residency has been fairly automatic for people coming on refugee visas.

    I hate to say it, but it really is going to be up to the citizens with immigrant ties to start getting angry about these things. I thought Trump being elected would have spurred action, but it really hasn’t been translating into much other than calls for ICE. My guess is that we from 700,000 naturalizations a year to less than 300,000 since they are defining public benefits so broadly that only the stable middle class will be eligible.

  52. 52.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Realized that I’ve only got a week-and-a-half before I return to the States, and I’m becoming one of the “elders” here in Thailand at the recovery hotel. It is a bit like weird reality TV show with patients constantly shuttling in and out, as newbies arrive and the other patients depart (except that everyone wins a brand spanking new neo-vagina).

    It’s also a little weird in that people arrive 2-3 days before their surgery date (for the pre-op tests) and then disappear into the hospital for a week. So you meet people and then don’t see them for awhile. And soon I’ll be a point where I’ll meet newbies, but won’t see them again because I’ll have departed by the time they’re discharged from the hospital back to the hotel.

    But definitely a cast of characters, folks from quite literally all over the world, with a wide range of ages (there’s some really young trans women accompanied by their parents), as well as people who range from being far out (like me), to those who are “stealth” i.e. no one they know knows that they’re trans.

    Good news personally, is that I continue to be healing well and fairly quickly. Downside is that some of the nerves are waking up after being deadened by the post-surgical trauma. Not fun. Feels a bit like a UTI-like intense need pee, except that it’s simply the nerves mimicking the symptom.

  53. 53.

    Gin & Tonic

    @LAO: Thanks. So there’s no way he could have finished direct yesterday under any reasonable working schedule. There was some commentary here about the scheduling of Gates (tactically.)

  54. 54.

    Felanius Kootea

    @Peale: It is up to *all citizens* not just those with “immigrant ties.” Remember that this administration also is looking into revoking the citizenship of “naturalized citizens” if they are found to have “broken the law.” As Masha Gessen pointed out, there’s no specificity on what country’s laws – by being gay, she “broke the law” in Russia before setting foot in the US. Can this admin decide to revoke her citizenship because of that? I know who the Supreme Court would side with in a 5-4 decision.

  55. 55.

    tobie

    @Sister Golden Bear: Thanks for your posts! I’ve been following even if I haven’t often responded. I’m glad to hear your recovery continues apace in spite of some discomfort and other issues. I hope you’ll write something longer about your journey and medical stays abroad and post-operative convalescence communities when you’re back home.

  56. 56.

    Boris, Rasputin's Evil Twin

    @Gelfling 545: How about a nice selection of blunt and sharp objects? This bunch has plenty of backstabbing experience, so this could be fun. At least by my standards.

  57. 57.

    MCA1

    @hueyplong: That’s perhaps part of it. But I think the bigger point (if we’re looking for tactical usage of this trial beyond just: Manafort is a criminal and we’re prosecuting him) is getting covered in Gates’ testimony today:

    Manafort was fucking broke. He’d been living high off the hog, illegally, and then it all came crashing down when Yanukovich was driven from office. Worse than broke. He was in deep debt to Deripaska. His marriage was a wreck. He was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He was DESPERATE in 2015/2016.

    Set that up as a basic background fact, and then you combine it with this:

    Manafort worked as Campaign Chair for Dotard FOR FREE.

    That leads John Q Moron Public right to the heart of the conspiracy.

  58. 58.

    Shana

    @Platonailedit: I’m reminded of the story the villain told in Skyfall about trapping all the island’s rats in a barrel and then leaving them to eat each other.

  59. 59.

    Calouste

    @MCA1: Yep, Manafort got paid somehow for working for the campaign, he just couldn’t afford to go without income. And if the shitgibbon didn’t, who did?

  60. 60.

    scav

    That island, tooled or untooled, better be right smack in the hurricane highway – now we can debate the addition or not of paper towels.

  61. 61.

    Ruckus

    @scav:
    Four sheets of the roughest paper towels per, but not one sheet of toilet paper on the entire island.

  62. 62.

    hitchhiker

    Sometimes I have to step back and think through the plot …

    Trump campaign was flailing. Cruz was threatening to steal delegates. Barrack recommended Manafort as someone with deep roots in R politics who could take hold and right the ship? Or, Barrack recommended Manafort as someone who could act as a credible campaign chairman while setting up grift from friends with billions?

    What’s Barrack’s connection to Manafort? How much $$ has Barrack himself washed for oligarch friends?

    In listening to Ezra Klein interview Adam Davidson recently, I learned a little about how ready the NYC real estate developer folks were to take long, luxuriant baths in Russian dough — and how that fact is why so little is done to prosecute financial crimes. Davidson said that the NYC economy depends on this stuff, so nobody really wants to see it end.

    Easy to imagine Trump and Barrack thinking Manafort would be just the guy to give the keys to.

  64. 64.

    Mai Naem mobile

    This island you speak of needs to be deeply affected by climate change. Also too I wouldn’t mind watching Nekkid and Afraid Team Stupid Watergate on this island.

  65. 65.

    germy

    @hitchhiker:

    I learned a little about how ready the NYC real estate developer folks were to take long, luxuriant baths in Russian dough — and how that fact is why so little is done to prosecute financial crimes. Davidson said that the NYC economy depends on this stuff, so nobody really wants to see it end.

    Including the NY Times.

  67. 67.

    TenguPhule

    @low-tech cyclist:

    I would want them to ‘enjoy’ their captivity, and each other’s company, for a long, long, loooooooong time.

    At least fix them all first. Why risk Trump being able to breed again?

  68. 68.

    gratuitous

    Gates was on the Trump inauguration committee? Probably looked like more easy money: “Shoot, if I could scam a sharp operator like Paul Manafort, filching money from Donald Trump will be child’s play.” So mote it be.

  69. 69.

    ET

    There is no honor among thieves and Manafort is old enough and has hung around with enough scum over the years, to have picked that up. The real surprise is that someone like Manafort would think someone he hired and who would willingly work for someone like Manafort wouldn’t be just as skuzzy.

    Manafort is an arrogant grifter white male of a certain age who has gotten away with some truly shady shit for decades and is torqued that he actually got caught and that someone he hired turned on him. I mean he likely thought that all of this was his due and how dare anyone say otherwise much less some lesser grfter who was just a hirling.

  70. 70.

    debit

    @gratuitous: There certainly seems like there was enough money to go around. We still don’t know where the majority of ti was spent.

    I wonder what’s going on here:

    As soon as Kevin Downing tried to ask Rick Gates whether “other members of the special counsel’s office” had asked about his time on the Trump campaign, prosecutors objected.

    A bench conference ensued, and Judge Ellis abruptly announced a half-hour break.

    Fishing?

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