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Follow our coverage of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2018/08/08/paul-manafort-trial-day-7-live-coverage/">Day 7 here</a>.

Paul Manafort, President Trump’s onetime campaign chairman, is on trial in federal court in Alexandria on bank and tax fraud charges. Prosecutors allege that he failed to pay taxes on millions he made from his work for a Russia-friendly Ukrainian political party, then lied to get loans when the cash stopped coming in.

The case is being prosecuted by the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Here’s what you need to know about Day 6 of this trial:

Manafort’s longtime business partner Rick Gates took the stand for a second day.

He admitted to having an extra-marital affair in London and to embezzling from Manafort.

Gates testified about how he and Manafort set up offshore accounts in Cyprus to transfer money to the U.S.

<a href="#affair">GATES AFFAIR</a> | <a href="#Mortgagedocs">GATES: MORTGAGE DOCS FAKED</a> | <a href="#Trumpcampaign">TRUMP CAMPAIGN</a>

5:27 p.m.: Judge questions how closely Manafort watches money

Just before the jury left for the day, Rick Gates echoed other prosecution witnesses in saying Paul Manafort kept a close eye on his financial affairs.

“Mr. Manafort in my opinion kept fairly frequent updates,” Gates said, after a discussion of movement between their consulting firm’s offshore accounts. “Mr. Manafort was very good at knowing where the money was and where it was going.”

Judge Ellis, as he has repeatedly, interjected.

“He didn’t know about the money you were stealing,” Ellis said, “so he didn’t do it that closely.”

The comment by the judge goes to a question at the heart of the trial — how much fraud could possibly have gone on under Manafort’s nose without his knowledge.

Downing also challenged Gates on his acceptance of responsibility, pointing out that he has not repaid the money he stole from Manafort.

“I spent it over the years,” Gates said.

5:17 p.m.: In tense cross-examination, Gates says Manafort has yet to face his crimes

In one of the most tense exchanges yet during his cross examination, Rick Gates compared his situation directly with that of his former business partner, suggesting that he had taken responsibility for his actions, while Manafort chose to fight at trial.

The comment came in the midst of a heated exchange with defense attorney Kevin Downing. Downing had just finished questioning Gates about what seemed to be foreign money that was not reported. Downing suggested that was because Manafort’s accounting firm advised that it need not be reported, though Gates fired back that it was because the firm did not have complete information.

“At Mr. Manafort’s request, he asked me not to disclose the other foreign bank accounts,” Gates said.

Downing then asked Gates about the records he had to support his assertions about Manafort. Gates responded, “a lot of our communication occurred verbally,” though he asserted that there as a “strong record” to support his account of conversations the two men had. Downing continued to spar with Gates, and questioned whether the jury could believe what he was saying.

“After all the lies you’ve told and fraud you’ve committed, you expect this jury to believe you?” Downing asked.

The two men continued to talk over one another, and Gates remarked, “I’m here to tell the truth.”

That’s when his commentary turned to Manafort.

“Mr. Manafort had the same path,” Gates said. “I’m here.”

Gates added later that he had “accepted responsibility.”

The acceptance of responsibility was a notable moment, though on the witness stand, Gates has, at times, not fully embraced the wrongdoing he has previously admitted to. In an earlier confrontation with Downing, for example. Gates initially declined to use the word “embezzlement” to describe his taking Manafort’s money.

“It is an unauthorized transaction,” he said at one point.

“Why can’t you say embezzlement?” Downing countered.

“It was embezzlement from Mr. Manafort,” Gates finally conceded.

4:57 p.m.: Gates testifies he wired offshore money into his company

Earlier in the day, Rick Gates testified about how he used to create fake invoices at times to submit to offshore banks to get them to wire funds to Paul Manafort to support Manafort’s lifestyle. Now he has testified that he would at times use the same process to cause banks to wire money from an account belonging to Manafort to a company controlled by Gates himself.

Manafort’s defense attorney, Kevin Downing, walked Gates through a series of such wire transfers. In one case, Gates testified that he submitted a false invoice for “professional services” to an offshore bank to get it to transfer $65,000 from Global Endeavor Inc. into a company called Jemina, and from there into Gates’s own account.

In another instance, Gates submitted a false invoice to cause Global Endeavor to transfer $125,000 into a different company called Bade LLC, which Gates also controlled.

Gates tripped up as he explained the reason for these transfers, repeatedly agreeing that some of the money was unauthorized but also that some was to reimburse him for business expenses, and some were bonuses from Manafort.

Downing asked pointedly why would Gates have called these transfers reimbursements for expenses. With that opening, Gates offered remorse to the jury. “I was, in essence, living beyond my means,” he said.

“It was a difficult time,” he went on. “I regret it, clearly. I’m taking responsibility for it. I made a mistake.”

Downing responded, “Was it for your secret life?”

Gates responded: “It’s not a secret life. It went to an account my wife knew about.”

4:30 p.m.: A question about Trump, an objection and a delay

As soon as Kevin Downing tried to ask Rick Gates whether “other members of the special counsel’s office” had asked about his time on the Trump campaign, prosecutors objected.

A bench conference ensued, and Judge Ellis abruptly announced a half-hour break.

Before that, Gates agreed that if he had been indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia on bank and tax fraud charges, he would have faced a “quite significant” sentence, “in excess of 50 to 100 years.”

Downing said it would be up to 290 years; Gates did not recall that number.

Downing also accused Gates of falsely using money from Manafort’s firm to take trips to Las Vegas, buy sound equipment and shop at Whole Foods in Richmond. Gates said he did spend firm money on those things but that he did not believe it came from offshore accounts. The Vegas trips were for his movie production venture, he said, not for fun.

It was in connection to that venture that Gates said he wrote a false letter claiming his company would be investing a large sum of money in his friend Steve Brown’s movie project.

“You committed fraud as a favor?” Downing asked skeptically.

“I did, I admitted to that,” Gates responded.

But he said he did not recall saying or being confronted with any accusation that he took money from Brown as well.

He did acknowledge receiving   a letter from the SEC about an investigation into insider trading as part of his position on the board of an identity-theft protection firm called ID Watchdog. But he said he did not retain a lawyer at that point, nor was he told by the special counsel that he might be prosecuted.

Downing jumped around with his accusations, and it was not always clear whether Gates was reluctant to admit wrongdoing or genuinely confused. But the broader point being made was clear: Gates has been involved in a lot of questionable business activity.

4:13 p.m.: Rick Gates won’t look at Manafort during testimony

As he did yesterday, Rick Gates has assiduously avoided looking at Manafort during today’s testimony. Manafort has occasionally stared up at Gates, but he has also frequently looked at monitors showing documents, or occasionally just off into the courtroom.

Manafort’s demeanor during the day seemed somewhat changed from when his business partner first took the stand and Manafort stared intently in that direction.

As cross examination of Gates began, though, Manafort resumed  staring at Gates.

Victoria Walker

4:07 p.m.: Manafort’s attorney tries to paint Rick Gates as taking advantage of his client

Defense attorney Kevin Downing seemed intent early in his cross examination of Rick Gates to drive home a theme.

Rick Gates repeatedly took advantage of Manafort when it came to money, and he lied about it so frequently that it was now difficult to sort fact from fiction.

Downing, for example, pressed Gates on an investment he made in a high-frequency trading company Manafort had started with another partner in 2011. Gates told Downing that $250,000 of the money was his, because it was a bonus from Manafort. Downing asked, hadn’t he already received a $240,000 salary, plus a $60,000 bonus from Manafort that year? And were there any emails to support that Manafort was still giving him another $250,000?

Gates said the money was a bonus, though he said he didn’t believe there were any emails to support his claim. 
Downing then presented Gates with some sort of document showing money transfers from 2010 to 2014, some of them large dollar amounts out of Cypriot accounts. Gates acknowledged that the list included “unauthorized transfers.” But as Downing pressed him on which transfers were unauthorized, and how much money he obtained inappropriately, Gates repeatedly said he could not say.

It was possible that the problem was the document Downing presented. Gates said at one point he could not provide an “exact breakdown” based on “the sheet you gave me.” But the line of questioning also prompted him to say repeatedly that he did not “recall” the money transfers to which Downing was referring, and which Downing claimed the special counsel had previously asked Gates about.

Downing pointed out that Gates’s memory was much clearer when a prosecutor was the one doing the questioning.

“Have they confronted you with so many lies you can’t remember any of it?” Downing asked.

3:55 p.m.: Gates admits he may have improperly submitted personal expenses to Trump committee

As defense attorney Kevin Downing vigorously questioned Rick Gates about all the ways in which he had stolen money from Manafort and others, Gates made a notable confession, acknowledging that it was possible he had submitted personal expenses to President Trump’s inaugural committee for reimbursement.

Gates said the process for seeking reimbursement was well overseen, but he conceded that he might have gotten paid for something he shouldn’t have.

“Did you submit personal expenses to the inaugural committee for reimbursement?” Downing asked in the middle of a heated exchange on the topic.

“It’s possible,” Gates conceded. <a name="affair"></a>

3:47 p.m.: Gates admits embezzling and conducting transatlantic extramarital affair

Rachel Weiner

Patrick Martin

Melissa Macaya

In the middle of other queries, Manafort defense attorney Kevin Downing suddenly veered in a different direction: “There was another Richard Gates, isn’t that right?” he asked. “A secret Richard Gates?” he asked.

Before even being asked the question directly, Gates, in a quiet, strained voice, told Downing that it was true — he said about 10 years ago, he had “another relationship.” In other words, he had had an extramarital affair.

Downing asked Gates whether his secret life had taken place in London. Gates acknowledged that the relationship had taken him to London and other places.

“As part of your secret life, did you have a flat? Is that what they call an apartment in London?” Downing asked.

Gates acknowledged that, yes, for about  two months he had kept a separate apartment in London. He agreed that he had also flown first-class and  stayed in luxury hotels as part his relationship.

Gates testified that he had embezzled from Manafort and conducted the affair.

3:36 p.m.: Defense attorney comes out swinging, calls Gates a liar

Defense attorney Kevin Downing, who has been an affable presence in court thus far, even when cross-examining government witnesses, came out swinging against their star cooperator Rick Gates.

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/whos-who-at-the-manafort-trial/2018/07/31/59c85034-7897-11e8-80be-6d32e182a3bc_story.html?utm_term=.22d58fbec8c7">[Cast of characters: Who is Kevin Downing?]</a>

“When did you start providing false and misleading information to the special counsel’s office?” he asked.

Gates pleaded guilty in Washington, D.C., federal court to doing just that. But as he did earlier, he seemed to waver on whether he actually lied or simply misspoke about a meeting Manafort took with a U.S. congressman.

“There were instances when I struggled in interviews” with details, he said. “I struggled to get all the information out, to some extent.”

Judge Ellis interjected to clarify that he had pleaded guilty to lying — “I did, to one count, your honor,” Gates acknowledged.

Downing asked whether special counsel attorney Andrew Weissmann told Gates that he had “no chance of getting a plea agreement” after learning that he had lied. Gates said no, he just had to agree to plead guilty to the false statement charge as well as conspiracy.

Justin Jouvenal covers the Supreme Court. He previously covered policing and the courts locally and nationally. He joined The Post in 2009. 

Justin Jouvenal

George Washington University, BA in Journalism and Political Science

Rachel Weiner covers federal courts in Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Va. 

Shared in a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, for reporting in 2021 on the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol 

Shared in a George Polk Award, for reporting in 2017 on ties between the Trump campaign and Kremlin-connected Russians 

Ohio University, bachelor's degree in journalism

Matt Zapotosky is Deputy Metro Editor, responsible for overseeing criminal justice and breaking news coverage and other strategic initiatives. Before moving into editing, he spent 15 years as a Metro and National reporter. He was part of The Post team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for reporting on the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol. 

Matt Zapotosky

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, 2022, for coverage fo the attack on Jan. 6

George Polk Award, 2022, for coverage of the attack on Jan. 6

Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, 2018, for coverage of Russian interference 

George Polk Award, 2018, for coverage of Russian interference 

George Polk Award, 2014, for coverage of the Virginia governor's interactions with a wealthy donor

Harvard University, BA in history

Rosalind Helderman is an investigative reporter on the national staff of The Washington Post. She was part of teams awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2022 and the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2018. She joined The Post in 2001. 

Rosalind Helderman

The Washington Post

Paul Manafort trial Day 6: Gates admits affair, says he used Manafort's money for trysts

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