Bank employee recounts how Manafort lied

A witness in the trial of Paul Manafort has recounted how the former Trump campaign chairman lied to obtain millions of dollars in bank loans.

A bank employee told jurors on Thursday how she discovered discrepancies in the information Manafort put on his loan application, including holes in his claims about a New York City property.

Melinda James, a Citizens Bank mortgage loan assistant, testified that Manafort had told the bank that the property would be used as a second residence, but she found it listed as a rental on a real estate website.

She said, in another instance, Manafort maintained that there were no mortgages on a separate New York property when there actually were.

All the while, he signed paperwork indicating he understood that he could face criminal or civil penalties if he lied to the bank.

James' testimony opened the eighth day of Manafort's trial as prosecutors began presenting the bulk of their bank fraud case against him after spending days on tax evasion allegations.

Lawyers for special counsel Robert Mueller also got a rare acknowledgement from US District Judge TS Ellis III that he likely erred when he angrily confronted them a day earlier over whether he had allowed a witness to watch the trial.

Ellis told jurors he went overboard when he erupted on prosecutors for allowing an expert witness to remain in the courtroom during the trial.

"Put aside my criticism," Ellis said, adding: "This robe doesn't make me anything other than human."

The comment came after a dramatic three days in which Gates, Manafort's protege, implicated his former boss in a years-long financial scheme while also enduring stinging attacks on his character and credibility.

Gates, the government's star witness, testified how, at the behest of his long-time boss, he helped conceal millions of dollars in foreign income and submitted fake mortgage and tax documents.

The testimony, stretching across three days, created an extraordinary courtroom showdown between the two former Trump campaign aides who were indicted together. Manafort opted for a trial, while Gates pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against his former boss.

Neither man was charged in connection with their Trump campaign work, but the trial has nonetheless been closely watched by a president who insists Manafort was treated shabbily, and who continues to fume publicly about Mueller's investigation into potential ties between his associates and the Kremlin.