Manafort is the first member of Donald Trump\u2019s campaign team to be indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and brought to trial. While Mueller\u2019s investigation set out to find evidence of collusion between the campaign and Russia, Manafort is accused of bank and tax fraud, unrelated charges dating back to his work as a lobbyist for ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych over a decade ago.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the mainstream media have been jumping for joy. Finally, Mueller gets a chance to put the Trump team on trial over Russia. Long before the trial began, the Washington Post wondered \u201cDid Russia teach Paul Manafort all its dirty tricks?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Read more<\/p>\n Back when Manafort was indicted late last year, CNN ran the headline \u2018This is the week Russia got very real for Donald Trump.\u2019 The New York Times declared \u2018With Manafort, it really is about Russia, not Ukraine.\u2019 \u2018Bad day for Manafort, as judge points out his deep Russia ties,\u2019 ran a headline from MSNBC earlier this summer.<\/p>\n Behind the headlines, however, lies a disturbing lack of collusion, and a lack of ties to Trump. The president\u2019s name was not mentioned once during opening arguments on Tuesday, and all of the charges against Manafort predate his brief period on the Trump campaign team.<\/p>\n In the absence of any evidence of collusion, Mueller has sought to portray Manafort as a man who enriched himself while dodging his taxes, and one piece of evidence presented to the Virginia court on Wednesday was supposed to do just that: a $15,000 jacket \u201cmade from an ostrich.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Prosecutors called on a men\u2019s clothier to show the jacket and testify that Manafort bought it via international wire transfer. Already, Twitter has decided that the former campaign chair is guilty of having terrible taste.<\/p>\n Committed anti-Trumpers on Twitter have clung to the jacket as proof that Manafort is guilty…of something.<\/p>\n A $15,000 ostrich jacket is just the coat you were when you use your $18,000 karaoke machine when you’re jammin’ at home! At least, that’s what Paul Manafort could do, if he were to be set free! What else goes with those two items? \u2014 Muckmaker™ (@RealMuckmaker) August 1, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Paul Manafort was charged with Bank and Tax Fraud after purchasing a $15,000 Ostrich suit jacket among other items. “When you’re wearing suits made of cartoon animals, you’re clearly guilty of something\u201d <\/p>\n Download\/Subscribe to Hard Factor: https:\/\/t.co\/ZiDed3bPiQ<\/a>pic.twitter.com\/Iy51SM6GHX<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Barstool News Network (@BarstoolNewsN) August 1, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Prosecutors also showed off Manafort\u2019s other questionable clothing choices, and revealed that he purchased a $21,000 watch and a $2 million house. He is accused of lying about his foreign lobbying income to get approved for bank loans in America.<\/p>\n I love how all the Justice Department photos of Paul Manafort’s clothes look like they’re from a listing for an apartment sublet on craigslist pic.twitter.com\/sOLIFMMsQ4<\/a><\/p>\n
\n ![\"Donald](\"https:\/\/cdni.rt.com\/files\/2018.08\/thumbnail\/5b61c2d4dda4c8e2508b4600.jpg\")
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, Mucksters? pic.twitter.com\/hcicoWiaE5<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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