The long-waited trial of Paul Manafort – President Trump’s former short-lived campaign manager – is underway in Alexandria, Va. This is the first court trial to come from FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia/Trump collusion investigation. The trial is expected to last for about three weeks.

A conviction of Manafort would give Mueller’s probe credibility and give the anti-Trump Democrats some steam, but an acquittal would be devastating for Mueller and his team of “17 Angry Democrats” as President Trump often refers to them in his tweets.

It’s too early to tell how this trial will end, but the political drama is real and all eyes are watching as the prosecution paints Manafort as a liar and tax cheat while the defense claims Manafort’s former business partner Rick Gates is to blame for Manafort’s tax fraud problems. Gates was also indicted, but he avoided trial by pleading guilty to conspiracy and lying to the FBI. If the racially mixed jury of six men and six women believes Gates is the real culprit then Manafort walks, if not he is facing long prison time. Chances are Manafort will be convicted of something but then again he may not.

Manafort joined President Trump’s campaign team in March 2016 and served as campaign chairman June, July and August 2016 then he was abruptly fired by then candidate Trump. Manafort’s exploits overseas dealing with controversial leaders of foreign counties is well documented. His resume is full of dark political intrigue involving Russians, the Ukraine and multi-million dollar lobbyist fees. Only President Trump knows why he associated with the likes of Manafort who comes across as an unlikeable shady dealer.

Nothing in this Manafort trial is a problem for President Trump except in the area of public perception. All of the accusations against Manafort took place years ago long before he joined Team Trump. Apparently, then candidate Trump learned of Manafort’s numerous problems and wisely let him go. Of course mainstream media just keeps hammering on President Trump’s former campaign manager, their relationship and this trial.

“Why didn’t the government tell me he was under investigation?” President Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning. The president was obviously referring to the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation of Manafort that began in 2014 long before Trump announced he was running for president. Back in 2016 when candidate Trump first hired Manafort the FBI was led by former FBI Director James Comey and the DOJ was led by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch. It’s obvious that Comey and Lynch did not tell candidate Trump of Manafort’s troubles by keeping candidate Trump in the dark knowing that Manafort was their ace-in-the-hole to be exploited against Trump down the road.

So in essence, the firing of Manafort as campaign chairman cut the FBI and DOJ off at the pass and they now had one less weapon to use against candidate Trump.

According to Wikipedia, Manafort had been confined to his Alexandria, Va. home awaiting trial, but his bail was revoked in June and he was jailed due to new charges of obstruction of justice and witness tampering to which he pleaded “not guilty.” These new charges will be the subject of a second trial scheduled for September.

On Wednesday President Trump also tweeted, “This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to strain our country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA.”

On Tuesday evening, President Trump held another one of his raucous Trump rallies in Tampa, Fl. in support of Republican candidate for Florida governor U.S. Rep. Rick DeSantis. The inside auditorium was 100-percent packed-to-the-gills full of enthusiasm, support and respect for President Trump and DeSantis. Rally after rally President Trump rocks the house whether it seats 5,000 or 20,000.

You have to wonder — Why don’t the Democrats hold similar rallies?

About the Author Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.