Manafort trial: Banker testifies about former Trump campaign manger's loans after mystery over Judge TS Ellis' hours-long recess
The chief executive officer of a small Chicago bank that approved $16 million in loans to former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was seeking a post in the new administration, a witness has testified
Dennis Raico, a former Federal Savings Bank executive testifying under immunity, said the bank's chief executive, Stephen Calk, expressed interest in such posts as Treasury secretary or Housing and Urban Development secretary.
Mr Manafort later asked the incoming administration to consider tapping Mr Calk for secretary of the Army, according to testimony earlier in the week. Mr Calk, a retired Army officer and helicopter pilot, did not get the job.
Mr Raico was one of several witnesses scheduled for Friday as the trial resumed after a recess that lasted into the mid-afternoon. He and James Brennan, a Federal Savings executive, were granted immunity against prosecution by Special Counsel Robert Mueller before testifying.
The witnesses were the latest in the government's case against Mr Manafort, who faces 18 felony counts of bank fraud, tax fraud and failing to disclose about 30 foreign bank accounts.
Yesterday at the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, the prosecution turned their attentions to bank fraud allegations against Mr Manafort after spending several days focusing on the tax evasion accusations leveled against him, all of which the defendant denies.
This followed the brutal interrogation of former aide Rick Gates on Wednesday, when the government's star witness was grilled on his "secret life" and accused of telling "so many lies that you can't remember".
Citizens Bank employee Melinda James, a mortgage loan assistant, told jurors how she discovered discrepancies in the information Mr Manafort had put on his $3.4m loan application, including holes in his claims about a New York City property.
The defendant had told her the house in question would be used as a second residence, she said, but later found it listed for rental on a real estate website. Her testimony was supported by Airbnb executive Darin Evenson, who told jurors Mr Manafort's New York properties were listed for rental throughout much of 2015 and 2016.
Citizens' vice president Peggy Miceli confirmed she sent her colleagues a sad face emoji when they realised Mr Manafort did not have the funds in place to merit the loan.
Ms James also reported that Mr Manafort had erroneously told her there were no other outstanding mortgages on a separate New York property, when in fact there were. The defendant had meanwhile signed paperwork indicating he understood that he could face criminal or civil penalties if he lied to the bank.
Yesterday's proceedings had begun with a surprise near-apology from outspoken Judge Thomas Selby Ellis III, who had accused attorneys working on behalf of Mr Mueller of allowing IRS agent Michael Welch to watch the trial from the public gallery, potentially biasing the witness's evidence.
“I was critical of counsel for… allowing an expert to remain in the courtroom. You may put that aside… I may well have been wrong,” he said.
If you need reminding of the background to this complex case, here's The Independent's Mythili Sampathkumar with an introduction to Paul Manafort, the charges against him and the possible ramifications for his old employer, President Donald Trump.
Here's The Independent's US team on Rick Gates' testimony this week, in which he revealed details of secret bank accounts in Cyprus and his own extramarital affair, insisting the luxury lifestyle of "fancy hotels" he was accustomed to was not paid for with embezzled cash.
Prosecutor Kevin Downing asked the 46-year-old witness: "There’s another life, right, the other Rick Gates? The secret Rick Gates?”
Mr Manafort's defence team is expected to attack Mr Gates' credibility when it makes its case next week.
It's worth restating that the prosecution is unlikely to delve into direct questions relating to the Donald Trump camp or its possible connection to Russian agents interested in fixing the result of the 2016 US presidential election during the current trial.
The Manafort case is about getting to the bottom of apparent financial irregularities concerning the individual and his time working as a political consultant in Eastern Europe between 2006 and 2015.
It does, however, establish a clear link between key Trump allies and associates of Russian president Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin.
Or, as Judge Ellis framed it in an address to prosecutors during a preliminary hearing: “You don’t really care about Mr Manafort’s bank fraud. You really care about what information Mr Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr Trump or lead to his prosecution or impeachment or whatever.”
What we can expect today are more bankers from Banc of California, Genesis Capital and the Federal Savings Bank of Chicago to take the stand and give their own testimony in relation to the felony charges Mr Manafort is facing.
Mr Manafort is understood to have received $16m in loans from the last of these institutions.
It might also be worth reminding ourselves of President Trump's stance on the trial.
“He worked for me, what, for 49 days or something?... I feel badly for some people because they have gone back 12 years to find things,” The New York Times quotes the president as saying, a clear attempt to distance himself from the defendant, who in fact worked for him for five months.
He also tweeted the following when Mr Manafort's bail was revoked in June.
Mr Manafort is facing 18 felony charges against him, nine of which relate to bank fraud and bank fraud conspiracy and carry maximum possible prison sentences of 30 years.
If he were found guilty of all nine by the Virginia federal court, he could be sentenced to a maximum of 270 years in jail.
The judge overseeing the Paul Manafort trial has granted a request from the Special Counsel’s office to keep secret a conversation that might shed light on its ongoing investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia.
The conversation came on Tuesday, as Rick Gates, Mr Manafort’s business partner who worked on both the Trump campaign and the Trump inaugural, was on the witness stand. During his cross examination of Mr Gates, Mr Manafort defense attorney Kevin Downing asked, if, during Mr Gates’s cooperation with the special counsel after he agreed to a plea deal, he was interviewed about the Trump campaign. Mr Gates said he had been.
Among those expected to take the stand are officials from Federal Savings Bank, one of the institutions Mr Manafort is accused of defrauding to get a loan.
Emails were previously shown in court that Mr Manafort had suggested his associate Rick Gates help the founder and CEO of the bank, Stephen Calk, get a job as Army Secretary in the Trump administration, as well as an invite to the presidential inauguration
Judge in TS Ellis has called a recess without explanation. The US district judge huddled with attorneys from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office and Paul Manafort's defence lawyers, as well as court security officers, for more than 20 minutes before calling the recess. The judge then exited the courtroom toward the jury room.
It was unclear exactly why testimony did not resume on Friday morning. Judge Ellis, the federal judge overseeing the case, reminded jurors on Friday to "keep an open mind," and said that Mr Manafort is presumed innocent. He gave them explicit instructions to not talk to one another or others about the case.
His comments came after holding a long conversation with lawyers for Mr Manafort and the government in the morning.
"I have a lot of other matters that have intruded," he said.
Still not much to report from the trial other than the mystery surrounding the break>>
Lawyers from both sides huddled with Judge TS Ellis twice this morning. After almost an hour of waiting, lawyers from both sides and Judge Ellis returned to the courtroom at 11:07 a.m.
Mr Ellis brought the 16 jurors in, stressed to them the importance of not discussing the case and told them to "keep an open mind." He also said the court plans to "continue with evidence" presentations in the afternoon today and that he would "expect to make progress."
Mr Ellis then said the court would take an open lunch and reconvene at 1:45 p.m. ET.
He gave no further detail about the morning's delay.
More than 30 minutes after court was supposed to reconvene, Judge TS Ellis, prosecutors and some defence lawyers have still not returned to the courtroom.
Paul Manafort and two of his legal team are still waiting the proceedings in the courtroom.
Judge Ellis and the legal teams are back in court. After conferring with an attorney for the prosecutors - including Greg Andres - and an attorney for the defense briefly, Mr Ellis said:
"Mr. Andres, you may call your next witness."
That's when Andres reminded him the jury still needed to be brought in.
A former Federal Savings Bank executive has testified that the bank's CEO asked him to call Paul Manafort to inquire about whether he could become a candidate for U.S. Treasury secretary.
Dennis Raico, the former executive, said Federal Savings Bank CEO Stephen Calk asked him to make the call to Mr Manafort on 11 November 2016, just days after Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election.
Dennis Raico, a loan officer at Federal Savings Bank, has testified that he acted as a go-between for his bank's founder and chairman Stephen Calk and Paul Manafort.
Mr Raico testified that this took place as the bank rushed to approve loans while Mr Calk allegedly sought upper-level perks in the Trump political operation.
Four of Mr Manafort's felony counts involve the $16 million of loans prosecutors have said were extended by Federal Savings in late 2016 and early 2017. Mr Manafort denies all the charges against him.
The bank and Mr Calk, who was named an economic adviser to the Mr Trump campaign in August 2016, did not respond to requests for comment.
Rick Gates, the deputy chairman of Trump's inaugural committee, who also worked on his campaign, testified earlier this week that Mr Manafort had told him to ask about making Mr Calk secretary of the Army.
Associated Press
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
