How ex-Trump campaigner Manafort built his lavish life of mansions and fine art with influence peddling and alleged fraud

As Donald Trump criss-crossed the nation promising to drain the swamp, two of his top advisers were busy illegally building a colossal fortress of riches deep inside that swamp, according to federal prosecutors.

For a decade prior and on through Trump’s populist crusade, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates used offshore accounts, hidden income, falsified documents and laundered cash to maintain Manafort’s lush life of multiple homes, fine art, exquisite clothes and exotic travel, the government says.

In a richly detailed expanded indictment filed this week, special counsel Robert Mueller parted the curtain shielding how two long-time Washington influence merchants worked the system. The government contends that Manafort, who was Trump’s campaign chairman for five months before being fired, used people all around him, from his buddy Gates to banks, clients and the IRS, to build a life of conspicuous consumption.

Gates, who was Manafort’s deputy in their lobbying firm and on the Trump campaign, pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy and lying to the FBI, cutting a deal with prosecutors to give them information that could help Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Manafort, meanwhile, has maintained his innocence. His spokesman, Jason Maloni, said Manafort is “confident that he will be acquitted and violations of his constitutional rights will be remedied”.

An lawyer for Gates declined to comment on the indictment.

Manafort faces punishment that could put him behind bars for the rest of his life.