The Manafort trial opens on the sidelines of the Russian case



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The tax evasion suit against former Donald Trump campaign director Paul Manafort opens on Tuesday against the backdrop of alleged contacts between the Trump team and Russia during the last US presidential election.

Paul Manafort, Donald Trump's former campaign director, is the first person in the US president's entourage to stand trial on Tuesday for a tax fraud lawsuit. banking. He is believed to have concealed millions of dollars in revenue earned as an advisor to former Ukrainian pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych in the 2000s.

Another trial awaits him in September for his alleged role in the case of Russian interferences in the November 2016 US presidential election, which brought the Republican candidate to the White House. But, of course, a parallel between the two cases is likely to prevail in the debate.

»READ ALSO – Trump accuses the special prosecutor Mueller of" conflicts of interest "

Paul Manafort was first placed under house arrest in the state of Virginia, next to the US capital, and forced to wear an electronic bracelet. But on June 15, Washington Federal Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson revoked her parole, accusing Manafort of putting pressure on witnesses in order to get a favorable turn in the ongoing investigation. . "You betrayed the trust placed in you six months ago," said the federal judge. For example, the 69-year-old lobbyist was detained after a hearing in which his lawyer unsuccessfully sought stricter judicial review, which would have allowed him to avoid prison.

President Trump then ironically responded to this decision on Twitter: "Wow, what a severe sentence for Paul Manafort who represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole, and many other senior politicians. I did not know that Manafort was at the head of the Mafia "… Last Monday, Paul Manafort's lawyers obtained the postponement of this trial for bank and tax fraud originally scheduled on Wednesday, July 25, to Tuesday, July 31.

The irony and versions of Donald Trump

The former campaign director of Donald Trump, who pleads not guilty, is also subject to the investigation of the special prosecutor Robert Mueller on the alleged interference of the Russia in the last US presidential election. On this issue, his second trial is expected to begin in September.

»READ ALSO – Robert Mueller, the austere prosecutor who trembles Donald Trump

The Russian investigation is moving for more 'a year. In total, three companies and around 20 people – including 13 Russians accused of tampering with the election and four Donald Trump employees – were charged. The sprawling investigations of the prosecutor's office go beyond the borders of the United States and relate to facts spread over several years.

Mid-July, the subject was discussed at the press conference closing the Trump-Putin summit. In front of the press of the whole world, the American president had then privileged the denials of his Russian counterpart to the information of the American intelligence services. In the wake of the outcry in Washington, the president was then forced to correct his version.

The trial of Paul Manafort, which opens on Tuesday, will feed a little more suspense around this Russian affair which, despite the efforts of the White House teams, may lead a day later to an audition from President Trump.

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