Justice: The trial of the former Trump campaign leader, Manafort, began

G The American lobbyist formerly influential, Paul Manafort, who had temporarily led President Donald Trump's election campaign, filed a lawsuit for alleged bank and tax fraud. The 69-year-old man did not comment on his arrival in court in Alexandria, Washington on Tuesday.

Manafort is accused of hiding millions of dollars in his work for the pro-Russian forces in Ukraine on foreign accounts before US authorities,

The trial is the first to date, which was born thanks to the investigations of the American special investigator Robert Mueller. Among other things, Mueller's suspicion under investigation that the Trump team could have made illegal arrangements with Moscow about the US election campaign in 2016 is not in the process; the process refers to Manaforts activities before joining the Trump campaign team. Nevertheless, the process is pursued with immense suspense by American politics and the media.

At the beginning of the trial, however, the selection of the twelve jury members was initially underway. The process in Alexandria should take about three weeks. Manafort threatens a jail sentence of dozens of years. A second lawsuit against Manafort is also expected to begin in Washington in September, with a focus on money laundering allegations. The lobbyist rejects all allegations.

Manafort was appointed director of the Trump campaign in June 2016. Two months later, he was forced to resign after suspicious suspicions of money were raised against lobbyists surrounding him. the former Ukrainian president and that the ally of the Kremlin, Viktor Yanukovych, became known.

The special investigator has accused Manafort of hiding tens of millions of dollars in revenue from Yanukovych and other pro-Russian forces on accounts in Cyprus and in other countries. The income should have allowed her luxurious lifestyle. In the years that he worked for Ukrainian politicians, Manafort acquired, according to investigators, expensive homes and he made old carpets, an artificial pond with a waterfall and a private area for playing golf.

Manafort fell very low. He was still under house arrest until June, when a federal judge sent him to prison for attempting to influence witnesses.

He is one of four former Trump employees charged with the Mueller investigation. Unlike him, the other three cooperate with the judiciary. Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, former Foreign Policy Advisor George Papadopoulos and Rick Gates, formerly Manafort's right hand man. Gates is said to be a witness in the trial in Alexandria.

Trump routinely denounces Mueller's investigation as a politically motivated "witch hunt" that should discredit his presidency. He called the Manafort briefing in prison "very unfair".