The Manafort Indictment
Judge reminds Manafort lawyer he's not his client's PR man
Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, and his deputy, Rick Gates, made their first court appearance Thursday in front of the judge in charge of their case, and she quickly scolded Manafort's attorney.
The attorney, Kevin Downing, spoke to the media after Manafort was indicted on Monday, and Judge Amy Berman Jackson reminded him Thursday, "This is a criminal trial, not a public relations campaign." Manafort and Gates have been indicted on 12 counts, including conspiracy against the U.S., conspiracy to launder money, and failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts; both pleaded not guilty and have been under house arrest since turning themselves in on Monday.
Downing asked Berman Jackson for Manafort's monitoring device to be removed, but it's not likely that will happen — court documents unsealed earlier this week state that prosecutors see Manafort and Gates as flight risks, and Manafort has registered an email and phone number using an alias and had three separate U.S. passports with different numbers. If found guilty, both men face more than 10 years in prison.