Paul Manafort trial day 6: Rick Gates admits he had affair, flat in London
Paul Manafort's fraud and tax evasion trial resumes for its sixth day, opening with the former Trump campaign chairman's former business associate Rick Gates taking the stand again. Gates, who was called to testify just after 4 p.m on Monday, is expected to face questioning for at least three more hours in an Alexandria, Virginia, courthouse.
Gates has already testified about illegal activity he undertook with Manafort from 2008-2015, claiming that he underreported Manafort's income, lied to Manafort's accountants and to the FBI.
The trial is the first of Mueller's prosecutions to reach a jury. But lawyers have so far made no mention of Trump or possible campaign coordination with the Kremlin, the central question behind the special counsel's investigation.
Last week, Manafort was accused of amassing "secret income" and falsifying tax returns and using fake loans to pay less in taxes, among other things.
Read below for updates as they happened from the hearing:
Manafort’s lawyer: “Manafort had a great day”
Downing left the courthouse Tuesday telling the cameras that "Mr. Manafort had a great day." He has said that he expects to go for at least another hour with Richard Gates Wednesday morning. That time does not include any redirect or re-cross examination.
Downing questioned Gates on Tuesday about what deals he had struck with the special counsel and whether or not they had prepped him to say "I do not recall" to questions he deflected.
In 2013, there was confusion regarding Manafort's investment in a company called EVO Holdings and whether that required him to file a foreign bank account report (FBAR). Experts at KWC decided that Manafort ultimately didn't have to file an FBAR with the Treasury.
Gates testified that the accounts in Cyprus were set up for the ease of the Ukrainians who were paying DMP. Gates said "a majority" of those contracts were for political work, but there were others for lobbying work they did in the EU and the U.S.
But in 2012 and 2013, there was a banking collapse in Cyprus. Gates said "that's why the invoices were broken up into various amounts" and accounts were opened in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the UK. Manafort and Gates then created a company called Pompolo in the UK to help hide their money transfers, according to Gates.
The funds were moved from UK to London and then on to the U.S. Manafort and Gates also opened an HSBC account in New York, according to Gates, to "see if there was a better way to get money to the U.S."
Gates also said that Manafort kept up with "very frequent updates" of the bank accounts and their transactions. "Except the money that you stole from him ... he didn't do it that closely," Judge Ellis interjected.
Gates: "I was living beyond my means"
Near the end of Tuesday's testimony, Gates verified various false invoices. When Downing asked why he had expensed his personal spending, Gates responded, "I was living beyond my means," adding, "I regret it today." Downing pressed Gates into admitting that the unauthorized transfers from the Manafort entities had been embezzled.
Gates admitted he had not informed KWC about various entities "at Mr. Manafort's request." At this point, Downing began questioning Gates about why there was no direct evidence of these "discussions" with Manafort.
Downing asked, "This jury is supposed to believe you...after all the lies?" Gates responded, "I'm here to tell the truth."
Gates' "secret life" includes affair, London flat
Manafort attorney Kevin Downing asked Rick Gates about his "secret life," which consisted of an affair ten years ago and a London flat, among other things.
"As part of your 'secret life,' did you maintain a flat in London?" Defense attorney Kevin Downing asked Gates. He also wanted to know about an apartment in Vegas and whether the Cypriot accounts were involved.
Downing also questioned Gates about whether his plea deal had resulted in the dropping of charges against him in the Eastern District of Virginia. Downing asked Gates if he knew he had faced up to "290 months in jail?" Gates responded that he didn't "recall" the special counsel saying this.
Downing then said he had misspoken and asked Gates if he knew he had faced up to 290 years in jail. Gates said he "knew it was in excess of 50 to 100 years."
Defense cross-examines Gates
Kevin Downing, a defense attorney for Manafort, began the cross-examination of Gates at roughly 3:15 p.m.
Downing initially questioned Rick Gates about his meetings with the special counsel, which began in January of 2018. Downing's stated intention was to establish a timeline of Gates' proffer sessions with the special counsel. He pressed Gates on the special counsel's charge that Gates intentionally gave false information.
Downing then questioned Gates on various unauthorized payments that he allegedly made to himself from Manafort's accounts. Downing got into the very specific details about the amount of income Gates under-reported, prompting Gates to state, "I do not recall," several times. Downing also asked that if he had submitted personal expenses to the offshore accounts, for example his Amex bill, did he also do so with the inaugural committee?
Gates responded, "It's possible."
Manafort's Yankees tickets
Gates recalled Manafort had difficulty paying for the Yankees tickets in 2016 and had run a debt of $210,000 to $225,000.
Gates said that Manafort asked him for a favor and "attributed the cost to me [Gates]."
Manafort asks Gates for favors for bank CEO who wanted to be Army secretary
The prosecution also questioned Gates about the Trump campaign. Both Gates and Manafort worked for the Trump campaign in March 2016, Gates said. Manafort was first hired by the Trump campaign to be a convention manager before he was promoted to chairman.
After Manafort left the campaign in August, as his ties to pro-Russian elements in Ukraine were attracting scrutiny, Gates remained on the inaugural committee. Manafort continued to correspond with Gates about after the campaign ended, seeking favors for a bank CEO who had overseen one of his loan applications. Stephen Calk, CEO of Federal Savings Bank, was named to the Trump campaigns economic advisory council during the 2016 campaign.
The prosecution showed an email exchange between Manafort and Gates which said Calk would be named to the economic advisory council for the campaign. On Nov. 24, 2016, Manafort emailed Gates to say, "We need to discuss Stephen Calk for Sec of Army. I hear the list is being considered this weekend."
Manafort also emailed Gates on Dec 23, 2016, requesting tickets to the inauguration for Calk and Stephen Calk, Jr.
Gates says Manafort claimed millions in income when his company had no clients
The last hour of questioning by the prosecution focused on the falsification of profit and loss (P&L) documents to help Manafort obtain a bank loan, and connections to the Trump campaign.
Andres asked Gates about a loan Manafort procured from the Banc of California. He told the court that Manafort had directed him to alter the 2015 P&L statement to add "accrual revenue" from 2014, not 2015. According to Gates, Manafort wanted to use the 2014 revenue to "help bolster Mr. Manafort's income number for the year for the bank application." The prosecution displayed a series of documents and emails which indicated that the original 2015 P&L statement had a net income of $400,744 on Dec. 31, 2015.
The new falsified P&L statement listed net income over $4 million. The prosecution then pointed to documents showing Manafort went through a similar process to falsify his 2016 P&L. Gates said when he received the altered P&L in October 2016, he saw that Manafort had "changed the income number" to just over $3 million. According to Gates, Manafort's company -- DMP International -- had no clients at this time.
Yankees tickets, Trump
The government showed a March 21, 2013 agenda penned by Manafort for a meeting with Gates. On it, there are action items regarding Manafort's "tax plan for April 15," a meeting with Ayliff, and an "update on movements" between accounts in Cyprus. Gates said Manafort wanted to "facilitate faster transfers" between accounts at this time.
The agenda also has an item entitled "Yanks," which Gates said refers to Yankees season tickets owned by Manafort. Under this heading, the document reads "tickets going to Trump next week."
Manafort's Yankees tickets came up again later during questioning. Gates recalled Manafort had difficulty paying for the tickets in 2016 and had run a debt of $210,000 to $225,000. Gates said that Manafort asked him for a favor and "attributed the cost to me [Gates]."
Gates says Manafort directed him to move money between Cyprus accounts
Prosecutor Greg Andres, will question Gates for three to four more hours. The testimony so far has focused his clients and the nuanced details of the political "consultancy agreements" between Manafort's shell companies in Cyprus and Ukraine.
The payments were in the millions, with some made in U.S. dollars and others in euros. Gates said that some of the Cyprus payments were documented as loans, but they were actually compensation for work done by the Manafort group. Asked whether he received "directions" from Paul Manafort to move money between different accounts in Cyprus, Gates answered, "Yes."
Gates also said during his testimony the payments were represented as something else to Heather Washkin and his tax preparers to "decrease the amount of taxable income."
Gates told the court about his role in Manafort's tax preparations, which involved working with and attending meetings with Manafort and his tax preparers, including Philip Ayliff and Cindy Laporta. Gates said Manafort had a "long standing relationship" with Ayliff.
What to expect for Tuesday
After prosecutors get a crack at Gates for the remainder of his testimony, the defense then begins their questions. He's expected to to face a bruising cross-examination as Manafort's lawyers try to undercut his credibility and pin the blame on him instead.
Reid reports that Manafort's whole defense is that he put his trust in Gates who then embezzled from him and failed to accurately report their business income to the government.
Monday's hearing
CBS News' Paula Reid reports that at the start of week 2 of the trial, Gates told the court that he conspired with Manafort to falsify tax returns, knowingly failed to report foreign bank accounts and failed to register Manafort as a foreign agent.
In court on Monday, a retired carpenter, a clothier and a high-end landscaper detailed how Manafort paid them in international wire transfers from offshore companies.
Gates testified that he and Manafort had 15 foreign accounts they did not report to the U.S. government, and knew that was illegal. Gates also admitted he embezzled money from his boss -- something Manafort's attorneys have alleged for months.
CBS News' Clare Hymes, Kristine Guillaume and Bryce Klehm contributed to this report.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this report incorrectly identified Greg Andres as one of Paul Manafort's defense attorneys. He is a prosecutor.