The trial of former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort took a decisive turn on Monday when his former business partner -- and Trump's Deputy Campaign Manager -- Rick Gates, took the stand to testify against him.
Despite efforts by Manafort's defense team to paint Gates as having swindled Manafort without his knowledge, when asked by federal prosecutors if he'd committed a crime with Paul Manafort, Gates answered in the affirmative.
Gates testified that, under orders from Manafort over a number of years, he made wire transfers from offshore accounts and didn't report them, as well as failing to file a foreign bank account record. He also admitted to stealing from Manafort and others.
Gates's testimony is crucial to the Special Counsel's case. Federal Judge T.S. Ellis III warned the prosecutors that the bar for conviction is high, and that they wouldn't be able to prove conspiracy if Gates didn't take the witness stand.
The testimony is making waves across social media.
Unlike Gates, Paul Manafort pleaded "not guilty" last year to numerous charges of conspiracy and fraud. Gates's words in court on Monday are the latest in what's been a tempestuous road for Manafort since his indictment in October 2017.
Though Manafort had been ordered to house arrest at his home in Alexandria, Virginia to await trial, Special Counsel Robert Mueller accused Manafort of subsequently attempting to tamper with witnesses he'd been corresponding with via WhatsApp and other encrypted messaging services.
As a result, he was ordered to jail by District Judge Amy Berman Jackson.
It's important to note that none of Manafort's charges focus on his consultation work in Ukraine, and not his actions during the Trump campaign. However, many are noting that the Manafort trial and its subsequent developments paint a foreboding picture for the Trump administration.
In addition to Gates's crucial testimony, prosecutors have also highlighted Manafort's excessive spending to emphasize the level of wealth he'd been able to achieve through his work for foreign agents and alleged tax fraud. Manafort's purchases included a $21,000 watch and a $15,000 ostrich coat.
Though the trial is addressing Manafort's dealings in Ukraine, the work he was assigned to there falls into what's becoming a popular narrative regarding the Trump campaign's possible collusion with Russia. Manafort was hired by pro-Russian entities to make Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych electable. Manafort was paid around $600,000 a month to do so. Despite a gruff demeanor and violent tendencies, Yanukovych was elected in 2010. He would later be overthrown and flee to Russia.
It's unclear as to how damning revelations from the Manafort trial will be to the Trump administration. But when one high-ranking campaign official has pled guilty and testifies in the trial against another official of the same campaign, positive developments are sure to be scarce.
