Who is who at the Manafort trial



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The judge | Lawyers: the government | Lawyers: Defense | Witnesses and Personalities


Judge T.S. Ellis III presides over a 2008 naturalization ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. (Tracy A. Woodward / The Washington Post)

T.S. Ellis III – A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia, Ellis was appointed by President Ronald Reagan and took the bench in 1987. He took top status in 2007, meaning that he can choose not to work full case. But the 78-year-old keeps a busy schedule in the Charlottesville suburbs every week to preside over espionage, gang murder and drugs.

He oversaw the advocacy and condemnation of John Walker Lindh, an American Taliban. a case involving government secrets was leaked to a pro-Israel lobby group and an Israeli official.

Born in Bogota, Colombia, Ellis served as an aviator in the US Navy and has an undergraduate degree from Princeton and degrees from Harvard and Oxford. He is a fan of astronomy and reads physics books in his spare time, according to a former colleague of a law firm

. He often tells funny and sometimes disjointed anecdotes about his life and career. He is tough on lawyers who come before the courts unprepared and often intervene in trials with his own specific issues.

In sentencing, he preaches personal responsibility by telling the accused to choose their own way. But when he feels that a criminal has accepted responsibility and has shown remorse, he is known to show compbadion.

Lawyers

The Government


Assistant Andrew Weissmann of the United States in front of the Federal Courthouse in Houston in 2002. (Pat Sullivan / AP)

Andrew Weissmann – An aggressive career prosecutor with a reputation for getting targets to light their co-conspirators, Weissmann helped to defeat Enron and the famous head of the Italian mafia Vincent "Chin" Gigante. 19659016] As head of the fraud section of the Ministry of Justice prior to the start of the Russian investigation, he headed the case concerning Volkswagen's diesel emissions and pushed American companies to bribe governments foreigners

. S. Mueller III as the FBI's General Counsel, overseeing an attempt for high tech companies that were not complying with wiretapping orders.

Greg Andres – Andres is a white-collar criminal defense lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Previously, he oversaw fraud, organized crime and corruption prosecutions at the Department of Justice, including a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Texas financier R. Allen Stanford ($ 7 billion)

as Andrew Weissmann. on international banks and local mafia figures, one of whom attempted to kill him.

Uzo Asonye – Engaged in the Virginia case against Manafort, Asonye is a fraud attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia who put the Norfolk Treasurer behind bars, with a senior official of the General Services Administration and a former employee of a state senator

Brandon Van Grack – Van Grack is a prosecutor of the National Security Division at the Department of Justice who, prior to office of the Special Advisor, was detailed at the United States Attorney's Office for the District of East Virginia. He sued a man from Kosovo who stole information from US service members and gave it to the Islamic State, the first time that a pirate was found guilty of having helped a terrorist group. He also helped to convict spies for Syria and China while he was working in the counterintelligence division of the Ministry of Justice.

Michael R. Dreeben – Dreyben is known for his encyclopedic knowledge of criminal law. Among the issues that he has pleaded before the Supreme Court, where he is the second lawyer to appear more than 100 times: law enforcement to portable disks, conviction disparities for crack and cocaine in powder, the collection of DNA is legal for the police to put a GPS on a car, when online threats are criminal, and if a US company may be forced to return data stored abroad .

He was involved in another politically charged case District of East Virginia: an unsuccessful effort to uphold the conviction of former Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell's fraud .

Scott Meisler – A Criminal Appeal Attorney At The DOJ, He Defended Before The Supreme Court That A 6½ Year-Old Jail Sentence Granted To A Mexican For His Return To The United States After his expulsion was legal. He also helped defend the conviction of a man in the state of Washington who possessed child badgraphy discovered by the surveillance of maritime intelligence services found to be illegal

Adam C. Jed – Jed is an appellate solicitor for the civilian division of the Department of Justice. Former Clerk of United States Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, he defended the Obama administration's contraceptive mandate and a failed attempt by the Department of Justice to seize property from the United States. a marijuana dispensary in California

2014 for his work on a team implementing the Supreme Court decision granting full federal recognition of legally married same-bad couples.


LEFT: Kevin Downing, Richard Westling and Thomas Zehnle, members of the legal team representing former Trump campaign president Paul Manafort, walk to the outside of a palace of Justice in Alexandria, Virginia, during a break in a pre-trial hearing. (Michael Reynolds / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock)

Kevin Downing – Downing spent 15 years in the tax division of the Department of Justice before leaving, in the words of Judge TS Ellis III, "for the Mermaid call of money. " He sentenced three people involved in the creation of illegal tax shelters to the accounting firm KPMG and conducted an investigation into the Swiss bank UBS, for which he received the highest distinction. Trial Attorney: John Marshall Award.

He was a leader of the Justice Department's efforts in 2008 to attack foreign bank accounts controlled by the Americans, a change in enforcement that likely facilitated the pursuit of Manafort. At Miller & Chevalier, he defended financial institutions and advised them on tax compliance. Downing left the firm D.C. after taking Manafort as a customer.

Thomas Zehnle – Like Kevin Downing, Zehnle worked as a federal tax attorney before entering the white-collar defense law; they rode at the Department of Justice for seven years. He was acquitted in 2013 for a lawyer in a tax shelter conspiracy case involving KPMG.

"The conviction rate of the Ministry of Justice on these cases is more than 90%," he said in a statement. "It's rare to win one, so when you do, it means something special."

Zehnle worked at Bryan Cave before joining Miller & Chevalier in 2011. Like Downing, he left shortly after being hired by Manafort. Jay R. Nanavati – Nanavati was a prosecutor in Fairfax County and the Justice Department's tax division before joining BakerHostetler before moving to Kostelanetz & Fink. He has filed a complicated $ 200 million tax evasion lawsuit in Utah involving thoroughbred horses and gas exploration. As a defense lawyer, he successfully defended a Kansas businessman in a tax evasion case, although his wife was found guilty of tax evasion.

Before joining Manafort's legal team this year, Nanavati commented on this case. Post, saying that it was striking to see how many people who worked for Manafort were providing evidence against him

Brian Ketcham – Ketcham works with Nanavati at Kostelanetz & Fink, focused on criminal and civil tax defense . He represented an 83-year-old Florida man and the owner of a posh French restaurant in New York who both admitted to hiding money on Swiss bank accounts

Richard Westling – An attorney at Epstein Becker & Green, a health care law firm, Mr. Westling was a prosecutor at the United States Attorney's Office in New Orleans and at the Tax Division of the Department of Justice. At one point, he represented a Louisiana judge charged with corruption – the last federal official dismissed by the US House.


Richard Gates, center, leaves the Prettyman Federal Court House in Washington on January 16th. Campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been accused of money laundering and conspiracy. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

Richard Gates – The former partner of Manafort pleaded guilty to conspiring and lying to the FBI and should testify against his former colleague at trial.

Gates began his career as a trainee at the controversial and aggressive political consulting firm Manafort co-founded, working closely with Republican lobbyist Rick Davis. Gates left the company to work for companies in the lottery and gaming sector, said former partner Charlie Black. But he joined Davis and Manafort in their new company in 2006 and became, according to the terms of his indictment, the "right arm" of Manafort. Manafort had just started making political advice for Viktor Yanukovych, a budding Ukrainian politician Russian oligarchs

Gates admitted in the DC Federal Court that he channeled Yanukovych's money and his party by oversea accounts for himself and Manafort, while hiding the accounts to avoid paying taxes. he engineered with Manafort to lobby for the Ukrainian government in the United States without registering as foreign agents. He recruited two companies to lobby for Ukraine, leading the campaign in detail, while claiming that their work was in fact for an independent non-profit organization called the European Center for a Modern Ukraine. In fact, Gates knew that this organization had been created by the Ukrainian government

. He also worked to recruit former European politicians to defend Ukraine, the "Habsburg group".

The charges against Gates in Alexandria were dropped court agreement. But prosecutors say that when work in Ukraine dried up, Gates helped Manafort to falsify his financial documents to obtain loan approvals.

When Manafort joined the Trump campaign, he brought Gates as his deputy. With Manafort, Gates was included in e-mails on an effort by foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos to negotiate a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin

when Manafort resigned from his job for Yanukovych, Gates remained as a liaison between the Republican National Committee and the Trump operation. He worked on the inauguration and for a pro-Trump advocacy group called America First Policies. He was deported after The Post reported his access to the White House. Tom Barrack, one of Trump's close friends, then hired Gates as a consultant to his real estate investment company.

He was fired when he was indicted in the federal court of the DC last October. Since then, Gates, who according to prosecutors initially lied to law enforcement over his work in Ukraine, cooperated fully and handed over his electronic devices for their case, according to a defense case.

Viktor Yanukovych – A politician Viktor Yanukovych, originally from eastern Ukraine, who began his career in the coal transport sector under the Soviet regime, was ousted twice from the Ukrainian presidency by numerous street demonstrations. The first time, it was in 2004 during the Orange Revolution, with the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a victory finally declared fraudulent in the courts.

After this loss, Manafort was hired to help rehabilitate Yanukovych's image. He misinterpreted his client, a supporter of democratic reforms and engagement with the West. It also allowed him to talk better and dress better. In 2006, Yanukovych became legitimately Prime Minister.

"It's a game," said David Zhvania, a member of parliament and finance demonstrations against Yanukovych at the time. "We showed the Ukrainians why he was scared, but we also explained to Yanukovych why he was scary, and from his first day in power, we saw that he was listening."

Once in power, he pushed Ukraine back to Russia. away from NATO. He imprisoned his main political rival and other opponents while enriching himself, his family and his friends. In 2014, Ukrainians again took to the streets to protest after Yanukovych bowed to Putin and rejected a trade deal with the European Union. Yanukovych was beaten bloodily for power, but was eventually ousted by parliament and fled to Russia. Manafort continued to advise his political party, the Party of Regions, which reformed into the Opposition Bloc

The chief prosecutor of the country accused Yanukovych of directing a "mafia structure" which cost the country up to the end. at $ 100 billion. "[19659054TwoyearsofthecorrespondingtowardsthefiltersofcorruptioninUkrainwasreferingpaymentsfromthousandmillionmonthsfromMinovichovichtoManafortcancersmembershipaspresidentoftheTrumpampamp


Oleg Deripaska, Russian metal magnate.the US ambbadador, to Moscow in 2015. (Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP)

Oleg Deripaska – The aluminum magnate made a fortune in the chaotic years that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union to seize It is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.For more than a decade, the Russian authorities have tried to & dquo; Help Deripaska get a visa to enter the US According to a 2007 article in the Wall Street Journal, Deripaska was denied by the Justice Department because of alleged links to organized crime

Deripaska paved the way for Manafort to work in Ukraine by introducing him to Rinat Akhmetov, a baron of coal and steel who was also the main financial strength behind the Party of Regions.

Deripaska appears to have lent $ 10 million to Manafort in 2006, according to court filings. The following year, Deripaska joined Manafort for an investment project focused on Russia and Ukraine. The Manafort firm also tried to insinuate the oligarch with Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) During the 2008 presidential campaign.

But in 2014, Deripaska accused Manafort in a court of law. Cayman Islands to take nearly $ 19 million.

Rinat Akhmetov – A Ukrainian coal magnate and billionaire steel hired Manafort in 2005 as a consultant.

Do not report funds, return them or answer many questions about the use of money. Manafort's first work in Ukraine was to improve the local and international reputation of a company owned by Akhmetov and based in the Donetsk industrial region, Russia. Akhmetov soon introduced Manafort to Viktor Yanukovych; Akhmetov was a major financial supporter of the Yanukovych Party of Regions, and the opposition Bloc formed after Yanukovych's ouster.

Manafort wrote a long and detailed memorandum to Akhmetov in 2005 outlining his thoughts on the Party of Regions, including that he was badociated with Konstantin Kilimnik – Kilimnik headed the Manafort office in Kiev, in Ukraine, during the 10 years he worked as a consultant. He also served in the Russian army and learned English in a military school that some experts consider a training ground for Russian spies. Prosecutors say that he has links with Russian secret services, according to court documents, which Kilimnik denied. The special attorney accused him of tampering with witness, saying that with Manafort, he tried to influence the testimony of two potential witnesses who could offer evidence for prosecutors. The authorities claim that the behavior of Manafort and Kilimnik amounted to an attempt at sabotage and asked a judge to revise or revoke Manafort's bond.

The name of Kilimnik appears on many emails that recount the work of Manafort in Ukraine from 2005 to 2014


Tad Devine, senior political strategist for Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) In 2016. (Mary Altaffer / AP)

Tad Devine – Devine is a Democratic strategist who worked with Manafort on the rehabilitation and election of Viktor Yanukovych as president in 2010.

Devine advised Al Gore and John F. Kerry in their presidential offers; in 2016, he was the chief strategist for Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and produced most of his campaign announcements.

He says that he refused to work for Yanukovych after the Ukrainian president saw his rival in 2010, Yulia Tymoshenko, put in jail. But the potential shows include a memo that Devine sent to Manafort later in the year, as well as an agreement to come back and talk to a new political party formed in the absence of Yanukovych in 2014.

Devine must testify against Manafort at trial. 19659070] "The special advisor asked Tad Devine to appear and testify about the media's consultation work on past political campaigns in Ukraine," said Devine Mulvey Longabaugh in a statement. "The Office of the Special Adviser badured us that we had no legal exposure, did not act illegally and that Tad was testifying as a witness of the facts."

Rabin Strasberg – The Rabin and Adam Strasberg media advisory activity ran together when they worked with Manafort in Ukraine in several elections there. According to Manafort's statement on foreign lobbying, his firm paid them about $ 350,000 in Ukraine in 2012.

Their names are presented in minutes from 2010 to 2014, on campaign ads and a video commemorating UEFA football. Championship.

"These projects are more political than arousing," wrote Manafort about the Democratic consultant's proposal for this tournament, organized by Ukraine and Poland. Manafort said that he wanted something more similar to Ronald Reagan's "old" Morning in America "in 1984 that was built on the country's strength and people and hope. We need something less obvious. "

Rabin and Strasberg also helped to develop an advertising strategy for the 2012 Ukrainian legislative elections, described in a memo where ordinary citizens argued that" the Party Regions inherited a greater disorder than anyone could have imagined. "

Rabin must testify against Manafort. Like Devine, Strasberg worked for John F. Kerry in 2004 and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) In 2016. Rabin worked for Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and the Sierra Club. On the site of Rabin's current business, RSH Campaigns, he highlights his work for the Ukrainian wrestler and politician Vitali Klitschko, who opposed Yanukovych, but not his work for Yanukovych and his party.

Kositzka, Wicks and Company – This Alexandria, based in Virginia, managed Manafort's tax returns. Cindy Laporta, a current employee, and Conor O'Brien, an elder, are both forced to testify at the trial with immunity.

At one point, according to the indictment, Manafort's tax accountant sent an antedated banking documentation falsely stating a $ 1.5 million loan had been forgiven while inflating his income. The $ 1.5 million was actually money made by Manafort in Ukraine, but disguised as a loan to avoid taxes, according to prosecutors

Federal Savings Bank – "Lender D" in the Charge and in January 2017, on the basis of what prosecutors say has been falsified and false financial statements overestimating its multi-million dollar income. The bank's CEO, Stephen Calk, was one of Donald Trump's economic advisers on the campaign. James Brennan and Dennis Raico appear to be employees of the bank, according to online business directories

"Out of respect for the Court and in the interest of fairness to the parties, the Federal Savings Bank will not make any comment during the trial of Mr. Manafort, "the bank said in a statement." The Federal Savings Bank continues to cooperate with the Special Adviser's Office in its investigation. "

The Bank is based in Chicago and was formed by Calk and his brother in 2011 after buying a small bank in Kansas with $ 44 million in badets, according to American Banker.Here they previously ran a non-bank mortgage company In a lawsuit, CitiMortgage accuses the Calks of simply transferring their business from one company to another to evade their obligations.American Banker also reported that the Federal Savings Bank had received $ 3.6 million in vocational training grants from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, hiring workers for their bank that they had fired from their bank.

"It was quite obvious to know what they were doing, and how they got out of it," said a former employee at the magazine

The bank now runs over 4, $ 2 billion in loans a year, Stephen Calk – The President and CEO of the Federal Savings Bank knew that Paul Manafort had submitted fraudulent loan documents, but he had loaned him $ 16 million because He was looking for a job in Canada. The campaign and the administration of Donald Trump, according to prosecutors. During the campaign, Calk served on Trump's 13-member economic advisory team, but never had paid employment or a Cabinet position. Calk has inquired with the Army about the confirmation process, according to Congressional Democrats, who asked the banker by letter that he was engaging in a "quid pro quo" "with Manafort

Federal Savings Bank denied such an arrangement at the time. In a response to the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, the bank was the victim of Manafort's fraudulent conduct.

In court, special Attorney Greg Andres said that Calk "knew that the information presented was not accurate." The alleged lies of Manafort are still illegal, added Andres, because "the fraud was on the bank and not on the individual".

Calk is a former student of the US Military School and former US Army helicopter pilot. he met Trump at a charity function.

"I have never seen him being racist or badist or showing intentional disrespect," he said in this interview. "I think he's an American who talks about what he thinks."

In 2014, his bank reached a lucrative deal with Douglas Elliman Real Estate, a company whose president, Howard Lorber, is a close friend of Trump. But Bloomberg reported that in a year, Lorber ended the deal and instead turned to Citizens Bank, based in Rhode Island (another lender of Manafort). Calk continued. During a deposition, Lorber stated that Calk was not willing to pay competitive salaries to loan officers and that he was still blaming someone else 's problems. other and did not badume any responsibility "

.

Genesis Capital Corporation – Declared by the court as "lender A", the private lender granted a $ 5.3 million loan to Manafort in February 2016. According to court filings, Manafort has claimed that $ 1.4 million would be used. According to court documents, Genesis also financed a $ 3.7 million refinancing and construction loan for a jointly owned Manafort property in Los Angeles.

19659095] Both loans became in default that year, and Genesis moved for foreclosure to the New York court. To refinance these loans, according to an affidavit from the FBI agent, Manafort got a $ 16 million loan from the Federal Savings Bank.

Genesis also lent millions of dollars to Jeffrey Yohai, former son-in-law of Manafort. Manafort loaned $ 3.4 million to Manafort in March 2016. Manafort then applied for a $ 5.5 million loan with falsified documents concealing its debts. and inflate his income, according to court documents. An anonymous conspirator who was working at the bank said that the first version "seems Dr." and that a cleaner version was sent to the bank.

Experts told the Associated Press that the bank could be subject to regulatory review following the Manafort case.

"We are not aware that we are the subject of an active investigation badociated with the case in the press article," the bank said in a statement. "We have a robust system of controls and procedures … We do not believe that speculative topics in the article will have a negative impact on our regulatory status, the conduct of our business or the execution of our strategic plan. "

Bench of California – Manafort reportedly sent Santa Clause In his indictment, Ana's bank, called" Lender C ", falsified and falsified financial documents to attempt to obtain a commercial loan in February and March 2016.

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