Manafort will not hide in a jacket from an ostrich

Rashagate: The process began over the ex-head of the election headquarters of Trump, which compromised his work on Yanukovych

On the ninth floor of the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, the process of the former head of the election headquarters Donald Trump, the famous political technologist Paul Manafort, who is accused of tax evasion and banking fraud, began. This is the first process within the framework of Rashagate.

Judge Thomas Ellis warned the prosecutors in advance so that they were “not fond of”, trying to play “antipathy” to Russia.

Most of the Americans, the judge noted, "do not distinguish Ukrainians from the Russians."

“I assume that not a single witness to the prosecution will say the words“ Russia, ”the prosecutor Greg Endres assured him.

However, this word is unlikely to be completely able to get around this word, since the money allegedly covered by the defendant was received for work from the ex-president of Ukraine Yanukovych, and the prosecutors, no matter how spin, will still have to explain the jury, for which they overthrew him.

In total, since May last year, when the Ministry of Justice instructed the special prosecutor Robert Muller to investigate Russia's intervention in the American elections, 36 people were involved in the court. Basically, these are Russians who will fall into the American court only if they are arrested somewhere in Thailand. But of the five Americans who were charged, four were considered for the good to admit their guilt.

Only the 69-year-old Manafort dared to give himself to the mercy of the jury, and the observers are inclined to the idea that he hopes for the pardon of President Trump.

Until now, Manafort has been brought to court in a green prison robe, but now he appeared in an expensive dark suit. Not everyone could see this personally. The hall in which Judge Ellis prevails is the largest in the building and holds about 100 spectators. Nevertheless, all the journalists could not fit there - the court allocated them a separate room with direct video broadcasting.

In fact, prisoners always change into civilian court so that the appearance of a prison robe does not set up against them.

This accusation does not really excite - it is trying to convince the jury of the fault of Manafort, drawing the picturesque paintings of his luxurious life: there is a wristwatch from House of Bijan for 21 thousand dollars and a jacket from ostrich for 15.

The last detail gave rise to an avalanche of responses in social networks: people are interested in where Manafort acquired this clothing and what does it be even?

They immediately remembered that the former President of Ukraine Yanukovych had weakness for ostriches - he kept them in a personal menagerie. They found the 2015 BBC report, in which the journalist dawned on Yanukovych with questions on this topic. He stated that the menagerie did not belong to him personally, but the ostriches "just ended up there." “I held ostriches,” he said. - Well, what's wrong with that?! "

However, the point is not in ostriches ... The judge warned the prosecutors that he would not allow them to configure the jury against Manafort, showing them his photo "on cocktails with half -naked women." The prosecutor Endres retorted: the accusation does not plan to demonstrate pictures with either half -naked women or with Russian flags. Instead, many witnesses who sold the defendant expensive things - from cars to carpets. Almost everyone said that he found an unusual Manafort system for paying for purchases - a transfer from a foreign bank.

The judge was not enthusiastic about such prosecutorial tactics and was forced to regularly resemble a jury that Manafort was not judged by the fact that he was a rich man.

The list of material evidence has 500 positions. A week before the process, the prosecutor's office unveiled hundreds of documents on the work that was done for Yanukovych and his “Party of Regions” overseas political technologists, which include not only the Republican Manafort.

The first documents are dated 2005. Manafort then sent a letter with his recommendations to the Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, who supported Yanukovych.

The image of Yanukovych in his homeland is “poisoned in the same way as Yushchenko’s body was poisoned by Dioxin,” the American political strategist wrote. According to Manafort, the “historical growth” of the Yanukovych party "was directly related to its ability to distribute rugs."

And he undertook to improve Yanukovych’s image, organizing a grandiose rally in December 2006 with the help of his American colleagues Tim Yunes and Bobby Pid, ​​who later worked for Trump.

Manafort recommended that in 2006, Yanukovych’s representatives to accuse the then leadership of Ukraine of naivety, since it “believes that the government can give Russia a slap in the face without consequences”.

Documents published by the prosecutor’s office are an invaluable source of information for everyone who is interested in the prices of American PR managers. Political technologist Devin, for example, showed that he was put half a million dollars and plus another hundred thousand, if the client - that is, Yanukovych - will win in the 2010 elections.

However, the device, unlike Manafort, proved himself a principled person. After the victory of Yanukovych, when his rival Yulia Tymoshenko was arrested, the Devaine company made this statement: “After the administration of the presidential candidate for which we worked, arrested his political opponent, we refused to work further.”

And in April 2012, the device really refused to serve the new political campaign of the Party of Regions. The partner of Manafort - Rick Gates - wrote to him:

“We reached a point again when we should abandon all political work in the United States for work in the most beloved country of everyone - Ukraine.”

Devin responded with a polite refusal.

After Yanukovych was overthrown and he fled to Russia, Gates again invited the device to Kyiv to advise the Opposition Bloc. There is a correspondence in the case, according to which the device announces a dachshund. “Good,” he wrote to Gates. - My prices for such work are 10 thousand dollars a day, including the days spent on the road. So if you want me to fly out of the United States on Monday and return to Friday, it will be 5 days, 10 thousand a day, a total of 50 thousand. ” "Wonderful!" - answered Gates, who found himself guilty of lies during interrogation and agreed to cooperate with the investigation.

... In his introductory speech, Manafort’s lawyer constantly transferred the arrows to Gates, whose testimonies are looking forward to, although the prosecutors made it clear that they could not cause him. Perhaps they will decide to save Gates for the second process of Manafort, which begins in Washington on September 17. At the current prosecutors prefer to work with paper, which is not lying, and not with living witnesses. And if the prosecutors feel that the papers will definitely drown Manafort, then they will leave Gates for September.

“Having worked for the last 35 years in election campaigns, I will say that this work brought me the greatest satisfaction,” Manafort wrote after Yanukovych’s victory in 2010. Among the accusations of documents, there is also the election speech of Yanukovych, written by a device.

Manafort, according to the prosecution, received at least $ 60 million, most of which he was paid by the oligarchs who supported Yanukovych.

He scattered this money on dozens of accounts in three jurisdictions - primarily in Cyprus. And according to the prosecutors, Manafort hid from taxes, albeit not all this amount, but a fair part of it.

The judge, who is not quite familiar with the Russian-Ukrainian way of doing business, said that the term “oligarch” unusual for the American ear has a negative shade, forbidding prosecutors to use it. Now this concept is indicated by the word "rich."

As a result, if Manafort is found guilty of all points, then he faces 305 years of imprisonment - such terms in America are usually not given even to serial killers.

In this regard, the famous liberal lawyer Alan Dershovitz said last weekend that the special prosecutor Müller thus hopes to put Manafort before the choice: to testify against Trump or “die in prison”.

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