UPDATE 4: Again, from The Washington Post:
5:47 p.m.: Day one of the trial concludes
Defense attorney Richard Westling began his cross examination of Tad Devine by asking what he thought of Paul Manafort. Devine said he thought highly of the work Manafort did as a political consultant. “Paul worked harder than anybody,” Devine testified. “There were emails sent through the night.”
Devine agreed with Westling that you could make a lot of money as a political consultant “sometimes.”
On what is known as a “redirect,” with prosecutors again asking the questions, Devine testified that he had no bank accounts in Cyprus. Prosecutor Greg Andres had asked the question to highlight the difference between the Democratic strategist and his boss in Ukraine.
(...)
That concluded the first day of the trial. Prosecutors indicated the first witness Wednesday will be Daniel Rabin, another political consultant who worked with Manafort in Ukraine, and an unnamed FBI agent. The proceedings start at 9:30 a.m.
The Atlantic's Natasha Bertrand reports the government will make its evidence public at the end of each trial day. See Day One here.
Paul Manafort trial: Government begins calling witnesses (Washington Post)
UPDATE 3: It has been a fast moving first day. Lawyers already have given their opening statements, and the government's first witness, Tad Devine, is testifying.
Manafort's defense involves blaming Rick Gates.
Both sides presented their opening statements Tuesday afternoon, following the jury selection. Uzo Asonye argued for the prosecution that Manafort "believed the law did not apply to him." He described Manafort's foreign accounts and lavish lifestyle, promising the jury it would be shown evidence of extravagant purchases such as a $21,000 watch and a "jacket made from an ostrich." Asonye told jurors they would see how "Paul Manafort lied" to his tax preparers, bookkeeper, and the IRS. "None of this happened by accident," he said, and the prosecution would argue that Manafort "is not above the law."
Manafort is laying out the case that it's not a crime to be rich and successful. Arguing for Manafort, Thomas Zehnle said this is a case "about taxes and trust," and Manafort had made the mistake of trusting the wrong person -- Rick Gates -- his former associate, who was entrusted with the day-to-day and financial operations of the business -- and who took a plea deal earlier this year. Zehnle asked the jury to carefully assess the credibility of Gates, whom Zehnle referred to as the prosecution's "star witness."
Zehnle also spoke at length about Manafort's offshore accounts and said it was not "Paul's initiative" to set up the accounts, but rather, the initiative of his clients in Ukraine. He said that Manafort was "not trying to mislead or deceive the Internal Revenue Service."
The jury for the trial was selected by early afternoon. Manafort's fate will rest in the hands of six male jurors and six female jurors. Eight of the 12 jurors are white.
5:22 p.m.: ‘Paul was in charge’: Witness describes how Gates answered to Manafort during work in Ukraine
Tad Devine described the campaign operation he became a part for the 2009-2010 election. He said he was impressed with Paul Manafort’s operation and that Manafort maintained a good relationship with his patron, pro-Russia political candidate Viktor Yanukovych.
“It was a very close relationship,” Devine said.
Devine said he was brought on Yanukovych’s campaign to produce TV commercials and write speeches, among other activities. Devine was to be paid $500,000 and $100,000 if Yanukovych won the election, which he ultimately did. Devine testified he was paid the full amount.
While working on the campaign, Devine met Richard Gates and other players around Manafort, including Konstantin Kilimnik ,who worked as a translator. The special counsel said in court documents Kilimnik has ties to Russian intelligence.
Devine said Manafort was clearly the boss in his relationship with partner, Gates.
“Paul was in charge,” Devine said. “Rick worked for Paul.” That is important because Manafort’s defense attorneys have sought to put the blame on Gates for what prosecutors say was fraud directed by Manafort.
Manafort fraud trial: Defense says Manafort trusted wrong person, Rick Gates -- live updates (CBS News)
Paul Manafort trial: Government begins calling witnesses (Washington Post)
UPDATE 2: Washington Post's Justice reporter:
Justin Jouvenal says he will be live tweeting the Manafort trial all week.
UPDATE: CBS News' Paula Reid has the latest:
More: Live Updates (CBS News)
Jury selection has begun in what Judge Ellis expects to be a three-week federal trial of President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
CNN:
Manafort arrived at the courthouse Tuesday morning wearing a black suit, with his hair neatly parted. Manafort's trial, in which he faces charges on 18 counts of violating tax and banking laws, is a high-profile test of the Mueller team's investigation into Russian election interference in 2016.
Beginning jury selection, Judge T.S. Ellis gave the pool of 65 potential jurors an overview of the charges against Manafort, though he reminded the group that the indictment "is not evidence of any guilt whatsoever."
The pool was nearly evenly split between men and women. The group is predominantly white, with fewer than a dozen non-white potential jurors. Most were comfortably middle-aged.
Nine potential jurors indicated that they have connections to the Justice Department, including four who said they were current or former federal employees. Two joked that they were "recovering attorneys." All affirmed that they could handle the case without any bias.
None said they knew Manafort, his lawyers or their law firms.
One younger woman said she knew Justice Department attorneys from her work at a Silicon Valley-based tech company. Another man brought a John Grisham novel into the courtroom.
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Manafort faces a maximum of 305 years in prison if he is convicted on all charges. Prosecutors say Manafort hid millions of dollars in income from lobbying for Ukrainian politicians, failed to pay taxes while spending the money on US real estate and luxury purchases and lied to banks to take out more than $20 million in loans.
At the same time, an appeals court has ruled Manafort must stay in jail until his DC trial in September no matter the outcome of his Virginia case.
A federal judge had ordered Manafort to jail last month after special counsel Robert Mueller alleged that Manafort had engaged in witness tampering, in violation of his house arrest.
An appellate court Washington, D.C. upheld the judge's order, which said that Manafort "was unlikely to abide by any conditions the District Court might impose, including the 'most fundamental condition of release . . . that he not commit [additional] crime[s] during the period of release.’”
(...)
Manafort is set to appear in court in D.C. in September on another series of charges, including obstructing justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and illegal foreign lobbying.
Paul Manafort trial kicks off with jury selection (CNN)
Appeals court rules Manafort must remain jailed ahead of DC trial (The Hill)