Page 8A
NATION/WORLD
East Oregonian
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
Longtime Manafort
deputy Rick Gates
admits embezzlement
AP Photo/Josh Edelson
A U.S. Air Force plane drops fire retardant on a burning hillside in the Ranch Fire in Clearlake Oaks, Calif. on Sunday.
Northern California blazes
now largest in state history
LAKEPORT, Calif. (AP)
— Twin Northern California
blazes fueled by dry vegeta-
tion and hot, windy weather
grew Monday to become the
largest wildfire in state his-
tory, becoming the norm as
climate change makes the
fire season longer and more
severe.
The two fires burning a
few miles apart and known
as the Mendocino Com-
plex are being treated as
one incident. It has scorched
283,800 acres, fire officials
said Monday.
The fires, north of San
Francisco, have burned 75
homes and is only 30 per-
cent contained.
The size of the fires sur-
passes a blaze last Decem-
ber in Southern California
that burned 281,893 acres. It
killed two people, including
a firefighter, and destroyed
more than 1,000 buildings
before being fully contained
on Jan. 12.
Hotter weather attributed
to climate change is dry-
ing out vegetation, creat-
ing more intense fires that
spread quickly from rural
areas to city subdivisions,
climate and fire experts say.
But they also blame cities
and towns that are expand-
ing housing into previously
undeveloped areas.
More than 14,000 fire-
fighters are battling over a
dozen major blazes through-
out California, state Depart-
ment of Forestry and Fire
Protection spokesman Scott
McLean said.
“I can remember a cou-
ple of years ago when we
saw 10 to 12,000 firefight-
ers in the states of Califor-
nia, Oregon and Washington
and never the 14,000 we see
now,” he said.
Crews did make progress
over the weekend against
one of the two blazes in the
Mendocino Complex with
help from water-dropping
aircraft, Cal Fire operations
chief Charlie Blankenheim
said in a video on Facebook.
But the other one is grow-
ing after spreading into the
Mendocino National Forest.
The complex of fire has
been less destructive to
property than some of the
other wildfires in the state
because it is mostly raging
in remote areas. But officials
say the twin fires threaten
11,300 buildings and some
new evacuations were
ordered over the weekend as
the flames spread.
Farther north, crews
gained ground against
a deadly blaze that has
destroyed more than 1,000
homes in and around Red-
ding. It was nearly halfway
contained, Cal Fire said.
The wildfire about 225
miles north of San Francisco
started more than two weeks
ago by sparks from the steel
wheel of a towed-trailer’s
flat tire. It killed two fire-
fighters and four residents
and displaced more than
38,000 people.
Officials began allow-
ing some residents to return
to their neighborhoods. But
tens of thousands of others
were still evacuated.
ALEXAN-
DRIA, Va. (AP)
— The govern-
ment’s star wit-
ness in the finan-
cial fraud trial of
Paul Manafort
testified Monday
that he embez-
zled hundreds Gates
of thousands of
dollars from the former
Trump campaign chair-
man — and told jurors that
he and Manafort commit-
ted crimes together.
Rick Gates, described
by witnesses as Manafort’s
“right-hand man,” calmly
related his criminal con-
duct as prosecutors looked
to provide jurors with
damning testimony from
a co-conspirator they say
carried out an elaborate
offshore tax-evasion and
fraud scheme on behalf of
his former boss.
Gates, who is expected
to continue testifying for
several hours Tuesday, has
been regarded as a crucial
witness for the govern-
ment ever since he pleaded
guilty this year to two fel-
ony charges and agreed
to cooperate in special
counsel Robert Mueller’s
investigation into possible
ties between Russia and
the Trump campaign.
The courtroom testi-
mony brought Gates face-
to-face with Manafort, his
longtime boss and fellow
Trump campaign aide, for
the first time since his plea
deal. His testimony, given
in short, clipped answers
as Manafort rarely broke
his gaze from the wit-
ness stand, follows that
of vendors who detailed
Manafort’s
luxurious
spending and financial
professionals who told
jurors how the defendant
hid millions of dollars in
offshore accounts.
Gates told jurors that
he siphoned off
the money with-
out Manafort’s
knowledge
by filing false
expense reports.
He also admitted
to concealing
millions of dol-
lars in foreign
bank accounts
on Manafort’s behalf and
to falsifying documents
to help his former boss
obtain millions of dollars
more in bank loans.
“We didn’t report the
income or the foreign
bank accounts,” Gates told
jurors, noting that he knew
he and Manafort were
committing crimes each
time.
Under
questioning
from prosecutors, Gates
read off the names of more
than a dozen shell com-
panies he and Manafort
set up in Cyprus, St. Vin-
cent and the Grenadines
and the United Kingdom
to stash the proceeds of
Ukrainian political con-
sulting work.
Asked whether the
money in the accounts was
Manafort’s income, Gates
said, “it was.”
Gates said he repeat-
edly lied to conceal the
bank accounts and, at
Manafort’s direction, he
would classify money
that came in as either a
loan or income to reduce
Manafort’s tax burden.
Gates, who also served
in a senior role in Donald
Trump’s presidential cam-
paign, is expected to face
aggressive cross-examina-
tion once prosecutors are
finished questioning him.
Manafort’s defense sig-
naled early in the trial that
they intend to blame Gates
for any illegal conduct and
to cast him as a liar and
embezzler who can’t be
trusted.
Trump ups sanctions pressure on Iran
WASHINGTON
(AP)
— The United States reim-
posed stiff economic sanc-
tions on Iran Monday, ratchet-
ing up pressure on the Islamic
Republic despite statements of
deep dismay from European
allies, three months after Pres-
ident Donald Trump pulled the
U.S. out of the international
accord limiting Iran’s nuclear
activities.
Trump declared the land-
mark 2015 agreement had
been “horrible,” leaving the
Iranian government flush with
cash to fuel conflict in the
Middle East.
Iran accused the U.S. of
reneging on the nuclear agree-
ment, signed by the Obama
administration, and of caus-
ing recent Iranian economic
unrest. European allies said
they “deeply regret” the U.S.
action.
Trump said in a state-
ment, “We urge all nations
to take such steps to make
clear that the Iranian regime
faces a choice: either change
its threatening, destabilizing
behavior and reintegrate with
the global economy, or con-
tinue down a path of economic
isolation.”
A first set of U.S. sanctions
that had been eased under the
accord were going into effect
at one minute past midnight
under an executive ordered
signed by Trump. Those sanc-
tions affect financial transac-
tions that involve U.S. dol-
lars, Iran’s automotive sector,
the purchase of commercial
planes and metals including
gold.
A second batch of U.S sanc-
tions targeting Iran’s oil sec-
tor and central bank are to be
reimposed in early November.
Trump warned that those
who don’t wind down their
economic ties to Iran “risk
severe consequences.”
The Europeans didn’t like
any of it.
Despite Trump’s claims,
the accord “is working and
delivering on its goal” of lim-
iting Iran’s nuclear program,
said a statement by European
Union foreign policy chief
Federica Mogherini and the
foreign ministers of France,
Germany and the United
Kingdom.
The ministers said the Iran
deal is “crucial for the security
of Europe, the region and the
entire world,” and the Euro-
pean Union issued a “block-
ing statute” Monday to protect
European businesses from the
impact of the sanctions.
A senior administration
official, briefing reporters
under ground rules requiring
anonymity, said the United
States is “not particularly con-
cerned” by EU efforts to pro-
tect European firms from the
sanctions.
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August 7 - 11
Tues. • Aug. 7 • 9pm
Wildhorse
ino
Resort & Cas
Main Stage
at the Fair
Sawyer Brown
Lina Castillo, MD
New Rides!
Wed. • Aug. 8 • 9pm
Ned LeDoux
Brewers Grade Band opener for Ned LeDoux
As a Pediatrician Dr. Castillo
brings with her compassion
and a desire to care for
your children. In addition
to caring for the general
pediatric needs of children,
newborn to 18 year olds,
she also specializes in
gastroenterology and
hepatology.
Fri. • Aug. 10 • 7pm
Thurs. • Aug. 9 • 9pm
Skid Row
Rebeldes De La Sierra - 7:00PM • Tormenta De Durango - 8:00PM
Grupo Fatal - 9:15PM • La Noblesa De Aguililla - 10:30PM
Los Canarios De Michoacan - 11:45PM
Sat. • Aug. 11 • 9pm
Blues Traveler
Enjoy Desert Sounds DJ in the Barley Barn Nightly! (21 & older)
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(does not include admission)
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