美国国家公共电台 NPR Manafort Trial Begins, Ushering In New Phase In Mueller Probe

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Special counsel Robert Mueller was tapped to look into possible collusion between the Trump¹ campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. At the same time, Mueller was empowered to pursue any possible crimes that might come up in the course of that investigation². Enter Paul Manafort - President Trump's former campaign chairman is facing charges of financial fraud, alleged³ crimes that were uncovered through Mueller's larger probe. Jury selection in Manafort's trial starts today. NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson has been covering this case from the very beginning and joins us now. Good morning, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE⁴: Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: All right. So financial fraud - that is the catch-all phrase we use to describe what charges Manafort is facing, but can you get a little bit more granular for us? What exactly is he accused of?

JOHNSON: Sure. Remember that Paul Manafort is a brand name in part because he was the Trump campaign chairman for a key part of 2016 during the Republican National Convention. But these bank and tax fraud charges against him go all the way back to 2005. This case today revolves⁵ around lucrative⁶ lobbying work that Paul Manafort did for the government in Ukraine, the pro-Russia government there. Prosecutors⁸ say he earned more than $60 million and failed to report a lot of it on his tax returns. He also allegedly failed to register his foreign bank accounts. And when that work dried up in Ukraine, Manafort allegedly borrowed against the value of real estate and then allegedly misled banks and lenders about all that.

MARTIN: So now he's facing charges, and his trial is going to get under way today. Are prosecutors going to try to make a connection in this trial to possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia? I mean, is there any way that comes up?

JOHNSON: Well, quite the opposite, Rachel. Prosecutor⁷ Greg Andres said in pretrial proceedings⁹ that it's unlikely any government witness will actually use the word Russia. The heart of the government's case, the government's witness list, includes accountants, people familiar with Paul Manafort's money and other people connected to how he spent that money. Expect to hear about the purchase of expensive rugs, New York Yankees tickets, real estate and expect to hear from Manafort's former right hand man, Rick Gates, who was charged alongside Manafort and later pled guilty and flipped¹¹. Looming¹² over this whole thing, though, is whether Manafort has any information about Russia and the Trump campaign. Remember; Manafort did attend that Trump Tower meeting in June 2016. So far, no sign that he's going to flip¹⁰.

MARTIN: Do we know anything about his defense¹³ strategy? Are his lawyers indicating what arguments they're going to try to make?

JOHNSON: They have not previewed their strategy too much. They filed a lot of motions in this case to delay the trial - to the mandate¹⁴ of the special counsel, and they've lost almost all of those motions. We do know Manafort's lead lawyer, Kevin Downing, has said from the start that Manafort's innocent, there was no collusion with Russia. And the defense seems to be arguing that but for Manafort's work on this Trump campaign, he never would have been charged with a crime.

MARTIN: So you are, I understand, across the street from the courthouse right now where you've set up your makeshift studio. Are there lines forming to get in there?

JOHNSON: A line did start forming shortly after 6 a.m. And what we're expecting is that the judge is going to hear some pretrial arguments about limiting evidence in the case. And then later this morning, he's going to start questioning prospective¹⁵ jurors. He wants 12 jurors and four alternate, 16 in all. These prospective jurors have already filled out a written questionnaire. The judge is going to follow up, make sure they can be fair and impartial¹⁶. And the judge in this case, T.S. Ellis, wants this process to move quickly. He's told the jury pool the whole case will last no more than three weeks.

MARTIN: So it's interesting to kind of think how President Trump has changed his rhetoric¹⁷ on all of this. I mean, he has been consistent about attacking the special counsel to be sure, from the very beginning calling it a witch hunt. He's even gotten his national security adviser¹⁸, John Bolton, to describe it as a witch hunt. At the same time, though, President Trump has been distancing himself from Paul Manafort recently, right?

JOHNSON: Yeah. The president's lead lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said this week if Manafort - and that Manafort and Trump didn't have any intimate business dealings at all. Giuliani also said that Manafort had no incriminating information against the president. Giuliani said they can squeeze Paul Manafort, but he doesn't have anything. Now, Trump has also said that Paul Manafort is a good guy being treated brutally¹⁹ by the government. There is a chance that Manafort could decide to cooperate with investigators²⁰ down the line. Remember; he's 69 years old. If he's convicted of these charges, it could be a virtual life sentence in prison for him.

MARTIN: All right. NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson covering the beginning of Paul Manafort's trial. He is, of course, the former campaign chairman for the Donald Trump presidential campaign. Hey, Carrie, thanks so much.

JOHNSON: My pleasure, thank you.