Who’s Who in the Paul Manafort Trial
(Bloomberg) -- Here are the players to watch in the courtroom as former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort goes to trial in Alexandria, Virginia, for tax- and bank-fraud charges. A jury of six men and six women was selected and sworn in on Tuesday.
THE DEFENDANT
Paul Manafort:
- Longtime GOP strategist and international political consultant
- Was campaign chairman for Donald Trump
- Attended 2016 meeting, along with Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner, with Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer who participants were told had dirt on Hillary Clinton
- Charged in Washington with money laundering, acting as unregistered agent for Ukraine and obstruction of justice
- Charged in Virginia with tax and bank fraud
THE JUDGE
Thomas Selby Ellis III:
- Reagan-appointed federal judge with law degrees from Harvard and Oxford
- Sentenced former U.S. Representative William Jefferson after corruption conviction
- Sentenced John Walker Lindh, an American who helped the Taliban
- Known for his biting sense of humor and long personal stories from the bench
- In one hearing, said Special Counsel Robert Mueller was pursuing Manafort case only to get him to incriminate President Donald Trump
THE PROSECUTORS
Andrew Weissmann:
- Was chief of fraud section of Justice Department's Criminal Division in May 2017 when he was assigned to special counsel
- Was FBI general counsel, director of Enron Task Force
- Was federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, New York, investigating organized crime
Greg Andres:
- Was deputy assistant attorney general in Justice Department's Criminal Division
- Was federal prosecutor in Brooklyn investigating organized crime
Uzo Asonye:
- Assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia
- Helped obtain 23-year sentence for CEO of Bank of the Commonwealth
Brandon Van Grack:
- Attorney in counterintelligence section of Justice Department's National Security Division, assigned to special counsel
- Helped obtain a 20-year sentence for first hacker charged in support of a terrorist organization
THE DEFENSE LAWYERS
Kevin Downing:
- Spent 16 years in Justice Department prosecuting tax cases
- Helped lead U.S. crackdown on offshore tax evasion, including probe of UBS, Switzerland's largest bank
- Helped direct tax-shelter prosecution of ex-KPMG executives
Tom Zehnle:
- Ex-federal tax prosecutor with three decades of experience in white-collar criminal litigation
- Was a chief in criminal enforcement section of Justice Department's Tax Division
- Worked at Miller & Chevalier, tax firm that represented Manafort
Jay Nanavati:
- Ex-federal tax prosecutor
Richard Westling:
- Ex-federal prosecutor specializing in health-care compliance
KEY PROSECUTION WITNESS
Rick Gates:
- Was Manafort's right-hand man in Ukraine
- Pleaded guilty to conspiring with Manafort to defraud U.S.
- Admitted to working as unregistered agent for Ukraine, hiding offshore bank accounts and making false statements to federal investigators
- Worked on Trump's presidential campaign as Manafort's deputy
- Helped plan Trump's inauguration
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Joachim at djoachim2@bloomberg.net
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
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