2016 ELECTION/LEGAL/PAUL MANAFORT/ROBERT MUELLER/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump says that the criminal trial of his former campaign aide, Paul Manafort, has nothing to do with him. But jurors in a Virginia courtroom heard his name repeatedly on Tuesday [8-7-18]. Trump’s name, his 2016 campaign and his inauguration came up several times during the trial’s sixth day, the most by far in the bank- and tax-fraud case brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. While the case does not directly involve the president, on Tuesday Trump became an unmistakable presence in the background. Documents and testimony spelled out Manafort’s myriad ties to Trump and his 2016 White House run. They showed that Manafort sought to ease his financial pressures by trading on his influence in Trump’s orbit. His longtime deputy, Rick Gates, said it was ‘possible’ he had stolen money from Trump’s inauguration committee. And Gates described the roles that he and Manafort had played in Trump’s winning campaign. The court even learned that Manafort’s ties to Trump extend well beyond the 2016 campaign. A 2013 document entered into evidence showed that Manafort planned to share his New York Yankee season tickets with the then-real estate mogul and reality television star. Even if the core subject of Mueller’s probe — potential collusion with the Kremlin — never came up, the references were a reminder that the case has implications that go far beyond two Republican lobbyist-consultants who concealed the fortune they made assisting a Ukrainian politician years before joining Trump’s campaign.”
–Josh Gerstein and Darren Samuelsohn, “Trump surges to fore of Manafort trial,” Politico, August 8, 2018 5:01 am