LEGAL/PAUL MANFORT/ROBERT MUELLER/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Star government witness Rick Gates ended three days of testimony on Wednesday [8-8-18] after admitting he lied, stole money and cheated on his wife, as lawyers for U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort attacked his character. Manafort lawyer Kevin Downing got in a final shot in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, raising the possibility Gates had four extramarital affairs and then asking if he had a ‘secret life’ from 2010 to 2014…Downing had completed the bulk of his cross-examination on Tuesday [8-7-18], firing questions at Gates for several hours as he sought to portray him as an inveterate liar and thief to undermine his credibility with the jury. Manafort has pleaded not guilty to 18 counts of bank fraud, tax fraud and failing to disclose foreign bank accounts. According to trial testimony, he used the accounts to receive millions of dollars in payments from Ukrainian oligarchs. Manafort, a longtime Republican political consultant, is the first person to be tried on charges brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Manafort made millions of dollars working for pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians before he took an unpaid position with the Trump campaign that lasted five months.”
-Sarah N. Lynch, Nathan Layne, Karen Freifeld, “Star witness testimony ends under attack by ex-Trump aide Manafort’s lawyer,” Reuters, August 8, 2018 3:07 am