Prosecutors' opening statement: 'Paul Manafort lied'

The case against Manafort outlined by prosecutors on Tuesday represents a new phase in Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling -- the first jury trial stemming from the probe that President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked as a "witch hunt."

Following opening statements, Tad Devine, the Democratic political consultant who worked with Manafort in Ukraine, took the stand as the first witness called in the case. Devine was the chief strategist for the 2016 presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Manafort arrived at the Alexandria courthouse Tuesday morning wearing a black suit, with his hair neatly parted. He's facing 18 charges, including accusations of filing false tax returns, failing to report foreign bank accounts and defrauding several banks. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 305 years in prison. He has denied all charges. In addition to the Virginia case, Manafort faces lobbying-related charges in Washington.

For the defense, Manafort attorney Thomas Zehnle made clear the plan is to point the finger at Manafort's longtime deputy Rick Gates, who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and lying to federal investigators in February. Gates was charged with several crimes in the Virginia case, but after his plea, those charges were dropped.

Manafort's "trust in Rick Gates was misplaced," Zehnle said. Gates changed his story over time -- to the point of saying anything to the government, Zehnle argued. And Gates found himself in legal trouble "because he embezzled millions of dollars from his longtime employer," Zehnle said, meaning Manafort.

Tuesday's opening statement was the first time Manafort's team has revealed its strategy in full. It's a bold move, especially given that Gates could also be a key witness in other parts of Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

The defense also intends to use witnesses the prosecutors plan to call to substantiate their charge that it was Gates who lied and stole money.

"He had his hand in the cookie jar," Zehnle said of Gates.

Zehnle also shifted much of the blame to the Ukrainian oligarchs Manafort worked for and the business associates he worked with.

"This is the way that they required it to be done," Zehnle said, arguing why oligarchs had paid Manafort through secret foreign accounts. Prosecutors said Tuesday that Manafort had hid 30 foreign bank accounts from US authorities.

Manafort reacted differently to the prosecutors' opening statements than to those of his own attorney. As Asonye spoke for 30 minutes, Manafort stared down at the table with his glasses on. He removed his glasses and looked intently at his defense attorney when it was Zehnle's turn.

Manafort sat looking at his papers on the desk in front of him as Asonye called him a liar. His wife, Kathleen, seated behind him, sat stoically, looking at the floor as the prosecutor attacked her husband.

Asonye used some dramatic flair in his opening statement.

"A man in this courtroom believed the law did not apply to him," he began, facing jurors and with his back to Manafort.

To demonstrate Manafort's lavish spending habits, Asonye told jurors that Manafort owned several homes, acquired real estate in New York and Virginia, bought expensive cars and a $21,000 watch, and even got a $15,000 jacket "made from an ostrich."

He described how Manafort allegedly made $60 million in Ukraine that he didn't report to the federal government, then used his own 30 bank accounts in three foreign countries to create sham loans and collect untaxed income he spent on the luxury goods.

Asonye walked jurors through a simple narrative trying to boil down complex instruments like offshore shell companies that the government says Manafort used to hide millions of dollars in payments received from Ukrainian oligarchs.

He urged jurors to "just follow the money."

As he started delivering his opening statement, Asonye earned a rebuke from Judge T.S. Ellis, who told him not to tell jurors that "the evidence will show" that the allegations against Manafort are true.

In his opening statement, Zehnle called out prosecutors for barely mentioning Gates and noted that he is the government's "star witness," who had pleaded guilty to lying to the government.

Manafort never intended to deceive the IRS or anyone else, Zehnle argued. In 2014, Manafort voluntarily sat down with the FBI and told them he had been paid $27 million for his work in Ukraine, Zehnle said, and identified the offshore accounts he says he was required to use to do business with Ukrainians.

Manafort's attorney also described how two accountants from the firm Kositzka, Wicks and Co., Philip Ayliff and Cindy Laporta, will say they received false information from Gates about Manafort's accounts. Ayliff and Laporta are among the five witnesses to receive immunity in exchange for their testimony.

Zehnle said Devine would testify about their work together in Europe. Though he didn't mention Russia or the ties to that government Manafort's Ukrainian clients have, Zehnle told the jury Manafort hoped to bring Ukraine closer to Western European democracies through his lobbying work.

Manafort "could not possibly anticipate his work in Ukraine would bring him to this courtroom today," Zehnle said.

The statement was the closest either side stepped during their opening statements toward the foreign politics and focus on Russia that set off Mueller's investigation.

In his testimony, Devine described the organization of Manafort's foreign political consulting operation and how it included Manafort, Gates and Konstantin Kilimnik.

Devine testified extensively on how much work Manafort did in Ukraine alongside Gates and Kilimnik. He spoke about an effort for Manafort to work with other Ukrainian politicians, besides Yanukovych, as recently as 2014.

Following the defense's questioning, prosecutor Greg Andres asked Devine, "Did you ever set up an account" in Cyprus "to receive money from Ukrainian politicians?" Devine said no.

Prosecutors tried to prevent Manafort's team from asking Devine if he and Manafort worked for opposing political parties in the US. The jury never heard it, but Devine has worked for Democrats, including Sanders, while Manafort has spent his career working for Republican candidates.

The trial will resume on Wednesday morning with prosecutors planning to call Daniel Rabin, a Democratic political consultant who worked on Ukrainian campaigns.

Tuesday's opening statements and testimony came after the jury was also selected and sworn in on Tuesday. The 12-person jury comprises six men and six women. There are also four alternates, three women and a man.

Ellis had given the pool of 65 potential jurors an overview of the charges against Manafort, though he reminded the group that the indictment "is not evidence of any guilt whatsoever."

The pool was also nearly evenly split between men and women. The group was predominantly white, with fewer than a dozen nonwhite potential jurors. Most were comfortably middle-aged.