Paul Manafort’s Lawyers Attack Rick Gates in Bid to Undercut His Credibility

International crime and money laundering and deception among thieves. A good movie coming up. But a sad comment in real life.

It should be hoped that the prosecution stresses that these are 'birds of a feather', so whatever the defense says about Gates also applies to Manafort. Also, one must wonder if Gates were asked whether he was aware of any affairs by Manafort, since that has been an issue. Much of the lines of questioning seem to be games played to influence the jury.

I find it contradictory that Judge Ellis cut short the prosecution's detailing of Manafort's expensive lifestyle (irrelevant to his trial on bank fraud and corruption) but allowed the defense free rein on detailing Gates' extramarital affairs, as if that were relevant to his credibility as a witness giving evidence of bank fraud.

Multiple affairs? All of a sudden that's a crime to Republicans whose Leader is a greatest serial adulterer in Washington!

Manafort's attorneys should proceed carefully here. When they start blasting Rick Gates' credibility because he was a serial adulterer, wouldn't that same rationale apply to the current president?

If accusing Gates of multiple affairs is all Manafort's defense can come up with to counter Gates' scathing testimony, Manafort's former lackey doesn't have much to worry about — except perhaps a frying pan flying across the kitchen.

Embezzlement deduction? The mind boggles at the various forms this "defense strategy" suggests.

Old litigators lesson in Law School: If you have the facts argue the facts, if you lack facts, argue the law, if you don't have facts or law, attack the other side.

Manafort figures Trump will pardon him. He has no worries. But this appears to "yuge" scale tax evasion.

Well if we can’t trust people who have had multiple affairs, can we start the impeachment proceedings? As for Manafort’s umbrage at being betrayed by his mentee, there is no honor among thieves.

And now we can more completely understand why prosecutors seemingly had misgivings about introducing Gates as a witness. In the final analysis, jurors will be challenged to sustain their focus on what laws were allegedly broken and how the body of evidence submitted aligns with the arguments presented by prosecutors or defense counsel. The occasional courtroom theater between Judge Ellis and Prosecutor Andres raises concerns about how their their occasional incapacity to sustain professional decorum will be weigh upon jury deliberations. Does anyone want to venture a guess as to when this staged production will find its way to a Netflix or Amazon Prime series?

Gates lied about his affairs? If he didn't, they wouldn't be affairs. It's like accusing a bank robber of not calling ahead, so the head teller could handle such a large withdrawal.

The problem is that criminals usually work for criminals, that's the fundamental notion of a criminal conspiracy or organization. It's not pretty or appetizing to a jury of generally honest folk when they have to figure out who is guilty, or not guilty, of what. This was always the issue with Mafia cases: the prosecution witnesses were so unsavory that they lost credibility and were subject to attack by defense attorneys. However, what sometimes happened is that these witnesses were able to demonstrate that by how the defendant gained by these criminals acts proved the case. What one should wonder is if Gates is this bad, by his own admission, how bad is his boss? And with that in mind one must wonder about Manafort's boss.

There is a huge irony in the fact that the defence team is attacking the integrity and moral standing of Gates because he had extra-marital affairs, saying it is proof that he is dishonest and untrustworthy ... Yet the guy sitting in the Oval Office ...

When did Republicans start caring about lying and affairs? That’s a new one.

The shady financial dealings of Manafort and Gates are no different from those of the president's, whose hidden tax information would shed light on what he's been hiding and why. Dirty money, lying, extramarital affairs and hush money aren't exactly prescriptions for making America great again. With Chris Collins' insider trading scandal now coming to light, the Republican Party is now a soulmate of this president. Do Americans really want more of this kind of irresponsible behavior in 2018 and beyond?

When a criminal is working for a criminal the boss has higher level of guilt.

I guess the defense has to have something to do. Of course Gates is a crook. We know, he knows it, everyone knows it. So what? It wasn't his passport photo used to open those off shore accounts.

As if jurors would be shocked anyone connected with Donald Trump would cheat on a wife? Laughable.

Let's hope the fur-lined ostrich glove fits.

The defense is left with Ad Hominem. It should not work; however, DJT should also not be president. We live in the times where 'shouldn't' 'is,' reality is faith based, and the volume of one's inanity overrides its substance. Vote in every election!