Opening statements in the first trial of the Mueller era began Tuesday — in a case involving Paul Manafort, former campaign chair for President Trump. The former lobbyist’s fate now lies in the hands of six men and six women. Manafort faces a 32-count indictment of bank and tax fraud for allegedly hiding millions of dollars in income from his work as a consultant in Ukraine. The trial, one of two Manafort will face, is expected to last three weeks — with high profile testimony, including from one of his closest aides — Rick Gates, a former Trump campaign aide himself.
So, could the trial spell trouble for President Trump’s legal issues down the line? Jim Braude was joined by Brian Kelly, partner at Nixon Peabody and a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who oversaw the prosecution of James Whitey Bulger and Ron Sullivan, a Harvard Law School professor and director of Harvard's Criminal Justice Institute, who served as one of Aaron Hernandez' attorneys in his successful defense against two murder charges, to discuss.
