In the US court began hearings in the case of the former head of the campaign headquarters of Trump

On Tuesday, the federal district court of Alexandria (Virginia) began a hearing on the case against the former head of the election headquarters of Donald Trump Paul Manafort, writes ABC News. The accused was brought to the courthouse in a tinted van.

Photo: twitter / John Schindler @20committee

The hearing began with a jury selection. The panel included six men and six women, writes Newsru.com. Among the four additional jurors are three women and one man.

Earlier, the American press wrote that the first stage of the hearings, which began on July 31, will last about three weeks. Then, during the second hearing, Manafort will appear on September 17 before the District of Columbia court.

Ex-head of the campaign headquarters of Donald Trump accused of evading taxes of more than 30 million dollars while working as a lobbyist for the Ukrainian Party of Regions and for the former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, which he laundered through offshore companies. Manafort understated his income when filing documents with tax authorities and exaggerated when communicating with banks in order to obtain more profitable and significant loans.

Screenshot from CNN video

Western media noted that Manafort could be sentenced to 305 years in prison if he was found guilty on all charges. However, adviser to the President of the United States, Rudolph Giuliani, said that Manafort could wait for the pardon of Donald Trump. Manafort himself considers the accusations against him absurd.

Despite the fact that the charges against Manafort were brought forward as part of US Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 American elections, none of the charges brought against him indicate Moscow’s involvement in the results of the presidential election, Interfax notes. .

According to ABC, Mueller will call 35 witnesses, including former colleagues and friends of Manafort. Thus, American consultant and lobbyist Rick Gates, Manafort’s former right-hand man, will testify at the hearings.

Manafort after arrest. Photo: YouTube / MSNBC

Recall, Manafort entered Trump's campaign headquarters in March 2016 of the year, headed it in June, but already 19 of August was dismissed after Ukraine accused him of illegally receiving large sums of money from 2007 to 2012.

The very first charges in this case, which US special counsel Robert Mueller brought against Manafort on October 30 last year, were not related to his participation in the election campaign. He was charged with “conspiracy against the United States,” money laundering and a number of other offenses. The indictment states that he “acted as an agent of foreign representatives in the interests of the government of Ukraine and the Party of Regions.”

A few days before the trial in the US state of Virginia in the case of the former head of the election headquarters of Donald Trump Paul Manafort, the prosecution provided the court with several hundred pages of evidencecollected against political strategist.

Prosecutors claim that Manafort laundered more than 18 million dollars and spent them on luxurious costumes, real estate and expensive carpets. He is also suspected of having pre-election financial ties with Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska.

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