Lawyers for Paul Manafort took aim at his former business partner Rick Gates on Tuesday, painting Gates as a liar who stole money from his former boss and forcing him to acknowledge publicly he had an extramarital affair roughly 10 years ago.
After facing several hours of questioning from prosecutor Greg Andres, Gates, considered to be the star witness, underwent cross-examination from Manafort’s defense lawyer, Kevin Downing, who questioned why the jury of six men and six women should take his word in detailing Manafort’s alleged criminal activity.
Downing announced to the courtroom there was “another Richard Gates, isn’t that right?”
“A secret Richard Gates?” he continued.
The line of questioning prompted Gates to admit to having “another relationship” roughly a decade ago. During the extramarital affair, Gates said he had an apartment in London he used for trysts and traveled during the course of the relationship.
The revelation was one of several made during the course of Gates’ testimony, during which he has admitted to falsifying documents to help Manafort secure bank loans, stealing money from Manafort, and committing other crimes with his former business associate.
Manafort is on trial for bank and tax fraud, and federal prosecutors say he laundered millions of dollars he made for political consulting work in Ukraine, failed to disclose foreign bank accounts, and misled banks to secure millions of dollars in loans after the spigot of funds from his Ukraine work dried up.
But Manafort’s lawyers say that Gates is the man to blame, as Manafort ultimately misplaced his trust in Gates.
Gates, however, said Tuesday that it was Manafort who told him not to report having foreign bank accounts. When pressed by Downing, Gates said that Manafort often directed him to do specific things verbally as opposed to over email where there may be a paper trail.
“After all the lies you’ve told and all the fraud you’ve committed, you expect the jury to believe you?” Downing asked Gates.
But Gates said he has “accepted responsibility” for his actions and is “trying to change.”
“Mr. Manafort had the same path,” he said. “I’m here.”
Gates was initially named as a co-conspirator in the indictment against Manafort, but he accepted a plea deal. He pleaded guilty in February to one count of conspiracy against the U.S. and one count of making a false statement to the government.
[Opinion: Rick Gates reminds Trump to shut up about Paul Manafort]
During his testimony, which started Monday and stretched into Tuesday, Gates also revealed he embezzled money from Manafort by inflating expense reports and creating fake ones.
When pressed on his actions by Downing, Gates admitted he never repaid Manafort for the “several thousand dollars” he took from his former business associate.
Downing pushed Gates repeatedly to classify his actions against Manafort as “embezzlement.”
“You’re not taking responsibility,” Downing said.
Gates said he made an “unauthorized transaction,” regarding the money stolen from Manafort, but eventually said “it was embezzlement.”
Downing specifically questioned Gates about $125,000 he received from Global Endeavour, an entity created in St. Vincent and the Grenadines by Manafort.
“Are these payments for your secret life?” Downing asked.
Gates told the court he created one false expense report related to the payments, but said some of the money may have come from bonuses and other expenses for which he had to be reimbursed.
Downing, however, pressed Gates on why he couldn’t simply admit the money was for his expenses.
“I was, in essence, living beyond my means,” Gates said. “I regret it, clearly.”
Though Manafort’s attorneys have tried to distance their client from Gates, several witnesses have acknowledged that while they often dealt with Gates when they had difficulty reaching Manafort, Manafort paid close attention to detail and was made aware of situations involving his financial activities.
Gates told the court Manafort kept “fairly frequent updates” on his finances.
“Mr. Manafort was very good at knowing where the money was and where it was going,” Gates said.
The remark prompted a sharp comment from U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, who noted that Manafort was unaware of the money Gates was stealing from him.
“So, he didn’t do it that closely,” he said.
The jury will reconvene Wednesday, where Gates will face roughly another hour of cross-examination.
