ALEXANDRIA, VA.—Paul Manafort lied to keep himself flush with cash and to maintain his luxurious lifestyle when his income dropped off, prosecutors told jurors Wednesday in closing arguments in the former Trump campaign chairman’s financial fraud trial.The government’s case boils down to “Mr. Manafort and his lies,” prosecutor Greg Andres said.“When you follow the trail of Mr. Manafort’s money, it is littered with lies,” Andres said as he made his final pitch that the jury should weigh a trove of evidence presented over the past few weeks and find Manafort guilty of 18 felony counts.Attorneys for Manafort, who is accused of tax evasion and bank fraud, will have their chance in front of jurors later in the day.Manafort chose not to testify or call any witnesses in his defence. The case doesn’t address allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has been tasked with investigating those allegations, as well as possible collusion with the Trump campaign, although that’s not part of the fraud case against Manafort.But as a result of the ongoing probe, Mueller’s legal team says it discovered Manafort hiding millions of dollars in income he received advising Ukrainian politicians. The defence has tried to blame Manafort’s financial mistakes on his former deputy, Rick Gates. Defence attorneys have called Gates a liar, philanderer and embezzler as they’ve sought to undermine his testimony.Manafort’s decision not to testify and not to call witnesses was announced by his attorney, Kevin Downing, before the jury on Tuesday afternoon. Asked by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III whether he wished to testify in his defence, Manafort responded: “No, sir.”The announcement came after a more than two-hour hearing that was closed to the public. The judge has not given any explanation for the sealed proceeding, only noting that a transcript of ...
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