Here are the players to watch in the courtroom as former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort goes to trial in Alexandria, Virginia, for tax- and bank-fraud charges. A jury of six men and six women was selected and sworn in on Tuesday.
Paul Manafort:
Longtime GOP strategist and international political consultant Was campaign chairman for Donald Trump Attended 2016 meeting, along with Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner, with Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer who participants were told had dirt on Hillary Clinton Charged in Washington with money laundering, acting as unregistered agent for Ukraine and obstruction of justice Charged in Virginia with tax and bank fraud THE JUDGE
Thomas Selby Ellis III:
Reagan-appointed federal judge with law degrees from Harvard and Oxford Sentenced former U.S. Representative William Jefferson after corruption conviction Sentenced John Walker Lindh, an American who helped the Taliban Known for his biting sense of humor and long personal stories from the bench In one hearing, said Special Counsel Robert Mueller was pursuing Manafort case only to get him to incriminate President Donald Trump THE PROSECUTORS
Andrew Weissmann:
Was chief of fraud section of Justice Department’s Criminal Division in May 2017 when he was assigned to special counsel Was FBI general counsel, director of Enron Task Force Was federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, New York, investigating organized crime
Greg Andres:
Was deputy assistant attorney general in Justice Department’s Criminal Division Was federal prosecutor in Brooklyn investigating organized crime
Uzo Asonye:
Assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia Helped obtain 23-year sentence for CEO of Bank of the Commonwealth
Brandon Van Grack:
Attorney in counterintelligence section of Justice Department’s National Security Division, assigned to special counsel Helped obtain a 20-year sentence for first hacker charged in support of a terrorist organization THE DEFENSE LAWYERS
Kevin Downing:
Spent 16 years in Justice Department prosecuting tax cases Helped lead U.S. crackdown on offshore tax evasion, including probe of UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank Helped direct tax-shelter prosecution of ex-KPMG executives
Tom Zehnle:
Ex-federal tax prosecutor with three decades of experience in white-collar criminal litigation Was a chief in criminal enforcement section of Justice Department’s Tax Division Worked at Miller & Chevalier, tax firm that represented Manafort
Jay Nanavati:
Ex-federal tax prosecutor
Richard Westling:
Ex-federal prosecutor specializing in health-care compliance KEY PROSECUTION WITNESS
Rick Gates:
Was Manafort’s right-hand man in Ukraine Pleaded guilty to conspiring with Manafort to defraud U.S. Admitted to working as unregistered agent for Ukraine, hiding offshore bank accounts and making false statements to federal investigators Worked on Trump’s presidential campaign as Manafort’s deputy Helped plan Trump’s inauguration