With the trial of Paul Manafort -- one of the campaign heads for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign -- set to begin Tuesday, several people in the "mainstream media" are hoping to learn some tiny but significant fact that could lead to the impeachment of the Republican occupant of the White House.
Unfortunately for those in the press with dreams of taking down Trump, the facts in the trial will overwhelmingly focus on Manafort’s lavish lifestyle instead of any hints of collusion between the campaign and the Russians."
Those are the conclusions put forth in an article by the AP's Eric Tucker and Chad Day, who assert that the information will deal with:
tales of lavish spending, secret shell companies and millions of dollars of Ukrainian money flowing through offshore bank accounts and into the political consultant’s pocket.
What’s likely to be missing: answers about whether the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin during the 2016 presidential election or really any mention of Russia at all.
Instead, Paul Manafort’s financial crimes trial -- the first of any kind arising from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation -- will center on his Ukrainian consulting work and only briefly touch on his involvement with the president’s campaign.
Ah, yes. Cue the sad trombone for all those out there in the liberal media hoping this would be another nail in the coffin of the Trump presidency.
Nevertheless, the jury selection in Alexandria, Virginia, will give the public “its most detailed glimpse” of evidence Mueller’s team has spent a year accumulating.
“It will feature testimony about the business dealings and foreign ties of a defendant Trump entrusted to run his campaign during a critical stretch in 2016, including during the Republican convention,” the reporters claim.
“Adding to the intrigue is the expected spectacle of Manafort’s deputy, Rick Gates, testifying against him after cutting a plea deal with prosecutors,” they contended, “and the speculation that Manafort, who faces charges in two different courts and decades in prison if convicted, may be holding out for a pardon from Trump.”
“Manafort was indicted along with Gates in Mueller’s wide-ranging investigation, but he is the only American charged to opt for a trial instead of cooperating with the government,” according to Tucker and Day.
The remaining 31 individuals charged have either reached plea agreements -- including ex-White House national security adviser Michael Flynn -- or are Russians seen as unlikely to enter an American courtroom.
Prosecutors in Manafort’s case have said they may call 35 witnesses, including five who have immunity agreements, as they try to prove that he laundered more than $30 million in Ukrainian political consulting proceeds and concealed the funds from the IRS.
As part of that process, “jurors are expected to see photographs of his Mercedes-Benz and of his Hampton property putting green and swimming pool, Tucker and Day explained. “There’s likely to be testimony, too, about tailored Beverly Hills clothing, high-end antiques, rugs and art and New York Yankees seasons tickets.”
While jurors will hear in painstaking detail about Manafort’s finances, they won’t be told about his other criminal case in the nation’s capital -- where he faces charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent and lying to the government.
“Nor will they hear about the reason he’s been jailed since last month after a judge revoked his house arrest over allegations that he and a longtime associate attempted to tamper with witnesses in the cases,” Tucker and Day added.
Trump and his lawyers have repeatedly sought to play down Manafort’s connection to the president, yet the trial won’t be entirely without references to the campaign.
Of course, not everyone who’s familiar with the trial is taking the matter so seriously. In fact, American Thinker's Thomas Lifson saw some light at the end of the tunnel: “There will be massive coverage of this trial. Maybe the Kardashians will show up?”
