Despite strict admonitions from Manafort judge T.S. Ellis, talk of Russia crept into Rick Gates testimony

Rick Gates.
(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Rick Gates' initial 80 minutes of testimony against his former mentor and boss, Paul Manafort, in federal court on Monday was strictly business. Gates told prosecutors that he had lined his own pockets with "hundreds of thousands" of dollars by submitting fraudulent invoices at Manafort's political consulting firm, said he'd helped hide millions in foreign income in 15 secret bank accounts in Cyprus and other tax havens to lower Manafort's tax bill "at Mr. Manafort's direction," and lied to prosecutors. The key exchange was when federal prosecutor Greg Andres asked Gates, "Did you commit crimes with Mr. Manafort?" and he answered, "Yes."

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis has made it clear that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutors are not allowed to dwell on the Ukrainian oligarchs or Russian partners Manafort worked with to earn his reported $60 million in consulting fees. "You don't need to throw mud at these people," Ellis told Andres in one of their heated exchanges Monday, referring to Manafort's foreign clients. "Yet the names of various figures in Moscow's orbit were occasionally unavoidable: Oleg Deripaska, Konstantin Kilimnik, Viktor Yanukovych," reports Vanity Fair's Abigail Tracy. "As much as Ellis sought to keep them out of the courtroom, their lingering presence alluded to further trials to come."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.