Paul Manafort trial: Expected star witness Rick Gates 'may not' testify during ex-Trump aide's court case

Prosecutors have raised the possibility that their expected star witness "may not" testify against Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort, as they concentrated on Mr Manafort's lavish lifestyle during the second day of his bank fraud trial.

The trial is the first courtroom test for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who was tasked last year with investigating Russia's efforts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election and to determine whether any of President Trump's campaign team were involved. So far, Mr Manafort is the lone person to stand trial as a result of the ongoing probe, even though the charges of bank fraud and tax evasion are unrelated to possible collusion. Moscow has denied any interference.

Mr Manafort, 69, is charged with tax fraud, bank fraud and failing to report foreign bank accounts. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges he faces in the Virginia court.

Rick Gates, Mr Manafort's former business partner pleaded guilty to making false statements after being indicted by Mr Mueller, with an agreed plea deal expected to make him the star government witness. However, Judge TS Ellis appeared surprised to hear the prosecution - who said they were moving quicker through their case than expected - may not call him

“He may testify in this case, he may not,” said prosecutor Uzo Asonye, a day after the defence made clear in opening statements to jurors that its strategy was centred on discrediting Mr Gates and blaming him for the fraud.

When the judge asked Mr Asonye for a clarification, Mr Asonye said prosecutors are constantly evaluating the need to call a particular witness and his comments were “not to suggest we are not calling him.”

With the defence centred on Mr Gates, the prosecution pushed ahead on day two with the main point of their case, painting a picture of Mr Manafort's lavish lifestyle that prosecutors allege was paid for by money from off-shore accounts containing money from political consultancy work carried out in Ukraine. Mr Manafort's consulting work for pro-Russian politicians is alleged to have earned him $60 million.

Prosecutors have portrayed Mr Manafort as a tax cheat who hid money in offshore accounts, and lied to borrow millions more against real estate in a bid to maintain an extravagant lifestyle.

Jurors heard details of Mr Manafort's acquisition of more than $1 million in clothing, expensive cars and more than $3 million in home improvement work — nearly all paid for either in cash or by offshore wire transfers.

An FBI agent present for the July 2017 raid on Mr Manafort's Virginia home, Matthew Mikuska, described finding expensively tailored suits and documents related to other luxury items allegedly bought by Manafort, including two silk rugs bought for $160,000 paid from offshore accounts.

However, the push to show Mr Manafort's extravagance earned a rebuke from Judge Ellis, who had previously shown his distaste for the prosecutions push to criticise wealth.

But when prosecutors introduced photos of Mr Manafort's high-end property and expensive suits, Mr Ellis interrupted so as to limit the growing list of evidence jurors would have to consider.

“All this document shows is that Mr Manafort had a lavish lifestyle,” Judge Ellis said at one point. “It isn't relevant.”

Prosecutor Greg Andres argued that Mr Manafort's spending was important to the government's case. “Judge, this is not an effort to prove Mr. Manafort lived lavishly,” Mr Andres said. “It's evidence of his income.”

On the term “oligarchs,” used to describe the people Mr Manafort was said to have worked for in Ukraine, Mr Ellise said use of the word implied that Mr Manafort was associating with “despicable people and therefore he's despicable.”

“That's not the American way,” the judge said.

Outside the courtroom, Mr Trump used the Manafort case to again attack Mr Mueller and his investigation. Mr Trump has consistently labelled the investigation a "witch hunt" and insisted there was no collusion. In a bizarre tweet, he compared Mr Manafort to 1920s Chicago mobster Alphonse “Al” Capone. “Looking back on history, who was treated worse, Alfonse Capone, legendary mob boss, killer and 'Public Enemy Number One,' or Paul Manafort, political operative & Reagan/Dole darling, now serving solitary confinement - although convicted of nothing?” Mr Trump wrote.

He also returned to his much-worn theme of mr Mueller. “This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further,” Mr Trump tweeted, adding that Mr Mueller's team is a “disgrace to USA.”

Mr Manafort's trial in Virginia is expected to last about three weeks. He faces a further trial in Washington DC in September,

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report