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Accused of tax evasion and money laundering, Donald Trump's former campaign leader, Paul Manafort, is appearing before a judge on the opening of the first trial stemming from the explosive Russian inquiry, targeting US President Bush's thunderbolts. relentlessly denounces a "witch hunt."
Hidden traits, bleached temples: sign of his sudden fall in disgrace, the former influential lobbyist showed in July a radically different face of the pre-dressed figure, wick carefully capped on the side, which he presented for years in Washington.
Former Republican aide Ronald Reagan and Bob Dole, former representative of sulfurous foreign leaders, he led the campaign Donald Trump between May and August 2016.
But if it is the special prosecutor Robert Mueller, charged with investigating the suspicions of Russian interference in the American presidential election, who led him on the accused, the crucial question of a possible collusion between members of the Trump campaign and Moscow should not be addressed during this trial.
It relates to facts prior to the pbadage of Paul Manafort at the head of the Trump team.
– Held away from Trump –
At 69, Paul Manafort is accused of money laundering as well as tax and banking frauds related to his lobbying activities for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, supported by Moscow, and two pro-Yanukovych parties, until 2015. Facts updated by Robert Mueller in favor of his Russian inquiry
Paul Manafort rejects all these accusations.
His trial should begin with the selection of twelve jurors at 10:00 (14:00 GMT) Tuesday in Alexandria, near Washington and should last three weeks.
As the president's ire crescendo against Robert Mueller's investigations, this ultra-anticipated trial embarrbades the White House.
Paul Manafort "has no information incriminating the president," hammered Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani on CNN on Monday. Then add, emphasizing the short duration of his pbadage at the head of the campaign: "It's just … four months, they will not start to plot on the Russians".
– Hope for a grace? –
Prosecutors are expected to call more than 30 witnesses, including his former partner Richard Gates, who has been cooperating with Robert Mueller since he agreed to plead guilty in February.
Of the 30 or so individuals already targeted by the special prosecutor, a majority of whom are Russians, Paul Manafort is the only American to have refused to reach an agreement with the courts to avoid a trial.
"Manafort remained loyal" to Donald Trump, says Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University.
He believes perhaps that this trial allows him to preserve "his chances of obtaining a pardon" presidential, he told AFP. While waiting for this prospect still improbable, the former lobbyist faces a trial "extremely difficult", he continues.
"Manafort, with the help of Gates, has laundered more than $ 30 million in revenue," wrote Robert Mueller in his indictment in February. Fraudulent the taxman, the lobbyist "spent millions of dollars in luxury goods and services for himself and his family".
Even if only one of the leaders was detained, Paul Manafort could be sent to jail "for up to a decade," according to Jonathan Turley.
Faced with a jury that is not likely to be moved by the story of his exorbitant expenses, the prosecution "will bring the coup de grace" with the testimony against Richard Gates, the teacher predicts.
– "Conflicts of Interest" –
Paul Manafort faces a second lawsuit in September, in Washington, still in the context of the Mueller investigation which accuses him this time, in particular, of money laundering. and not having declared his lobbyist services for a foreign government
He had been imprisoned in June for attempted bribery. At the time, Donald Trump had denounced a "severe punishment."
This weekend, the US President increased his attacks on Robert Mueller tenfold, accusing the former head of the Federal Police (FBI) and respected figure Republicans' "conflicts of interest" against him.
"There is no collusion!", the billionaire warned, denouncing "Robert Mueller's faked witch hunt".
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