An attorney for former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is challenging his client’s condition of release following his criminal indictment, charging that special counsel prosecutors “embellished” the weight of evidence against him.
Mr. Manafort has demonstrated he is not a flight risk, his attorney Kevin Downing wrote in documents filed ahead of a Thursday afternoon court appearance, as evidenced by the fact he traveled internationally while aware of the ongoing investigation and returned back to the U.S.
“Just so there was no misunderstanding, his former counsel was told by the Government prosecutors in August that they were going to indict him,” Mr. Downing wrote. “During this investigation period, Mr. Manafort traveled overseas on business and, to no one’s surprise, he returned to the United States.”
Mr. Manafort and his top association, Richard Gates, stand accused of a scheme to provide lobbying services to a former pro-Russian government group in Ukraine, the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, and former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions.
The two men were indicted Monday on charges of failing to report their actions as foreign agents and laundering the payments they received for the work through companies and foreign bank accounts to avoid taxes. The indictment states that approximately $75 million was funneled through bank accounts the men controlled in Cyprus, Grenadines, Seychelles and England.
On Monday, Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson ordered the men to serve home confinement and make daily phone calls to pretrial services. She also agreed to prosecutors’ request to set a $10 million bond for Mr. Manafort and a $5 million bond for Mr. Gates, which they will be required to pay if they violate the court’s orders.
Mr. Downing argued Thursday that the $10 million unsecured bond would suffice.
“Apparently, the Government Memorandum seeks to persuade this Court that Mr. Manafort is a serious risk to simply up and leave his wife of almost 40 years, his two daughters, and his grandchildren, so that he can live the rest of his life on the lam,” Mr. Downing wrote. “This is an imagined risk; it is not real.”
Mr. Downing went on to say that due to the publicity surrounding the case, it would be difficult for Mr. Manafort to hide out abroad.
“Given the substantial media coverage surrounding Mr. Manafort and this investigation, it is fair to say that he is one of the most recognizable people on the planet today. Query where such an individual could even hide?” he wrote.
Prosecutors argued that the men’s “substantial overseas ties, including assets held abroad, significant foreign work connections, and significant travel abroad” all create a substantial flight risk.
In detailing their concerns, prosecutors wrote in court filings that Mr. Manafort had three U.S. passports, and had a phone and email account registered under a fake name. They detailed his numerous foreign bank accounts, and said authorities have had difficulty confirming the value of his assets. They said Mr. Manafort has as listed his assets as anywhere between $19 million to $63 million over the last five years.
Mr. Manafort faces 12 to 15 years in prison under sentencing guidelines and Mr. Gates could get 10 to 12 years if convicted.
Mr. Downing also challenged the validity of the charges lodged against Mr. Manafort, questioning the Justice Department’s spotty enforcement of foreign agent registration laws.
“The U.S. Department of Justice has only brought six criminal [Foreign Agents Registration Act] prosecutions since 1966 and it has secured only one conviction during this period. It is far from clear what activity triggers a requirement to file a report as a foreign agent,” Mr. Downing wrote. “In order to conceal this weakness in the indictment, a facade of money laundering has been put forth using a tenuous legal theory.”
He wrote that if the money laundering charges were removed from the indictment, his client would face much less time in prison if convicted.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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