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WASHINGTON, U.S. – Among the 35 people who have been named on a witness list filed by prosecutors of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller are those that Paul Manafort once referred to as his friends and others who he despised as foes. 

Mueller’s team filed the witness list on Friday in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, less than a week before the U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman heads to trail over a case related to financial crimes. 

The list filed by Mueller’s team, in compliance with a judge’s order, includes 35 key witnesses who will be called before a jury in the upcoming trial on Tuesday, during which Manafort will battle tax and bank fraud allegations and prosecutors will try to unravel the mysteries of how the longtime lobbyist and political consultant funded his extravagant lifestyle.

Prosecutors have accused Manafort of routing millions of dollars in proceeds from Ukrainian political consulting work into offshore accounts and then using this money to fund his lavish lifestyle. 

Manafort faces accusations of never disclosing or paying taxes on these earnings he made from the political consulting work.

The list names Manafort’s former bankers, accountants, assistants, and even his friends but doesn’t explicitly detail the connection or relationship, merely naming the individuals.

Yet, some names immediately stand out and make Mueller’s endgame a little more evident than before.

Former Manafort deputy and longtime business partner Rick Gates, who pleaded guilty in Mueller’s investigation earlier this year has been named in the list.

Gates had pleaded guilty to lying to investigators and to a conspiracy charge and had agreed to cooperate with investigators.

On October 30, 2017, Mueller unveiled his first big development in the Russia-Trump campaign collusion case and indicted Manafort and Gates on 12 counts related to their political consulting business, including money laundering. 

After days of denial, Manafort kept up his fight, but Gates cracked. 

Gates was on the team that Manafort was heading as Trump’s campaign manager and was faced with bank fraud and conspiracy to launder money, but under the charges he pleaded guilty to, he was said to be facing a maximum sentence of only six years.

Prosecutors said at the time that Gates could win a reduction in his sentence based on the extent of his cooperation with Mueller’s probe.

The former Manafort deputy was widely believed to agree to offer incriminating information against his longtime associate Manafort, or other members of the Trump campaign.

Meanwhile, Mueller’s witness list filed on Friday also includes Tad Devine, a political consultant and top strategist on Senator Bernie Sanders’ Democratic presidential campaign.

Devine features on the list since he was also a participant in Manafort’s Ukrainian political work, helping refurbish the image of Ukraine’s disgraced former president Viktor Yanukovych.

Devine’s firm released a statement saying he was serving as a fact witness and had been assured he did not have legal exposure.

The list also names Philip Ayliff, a longtime personal accountant for Manafort; Wayne Holland, a real estate agent in Northern Virginia and a personal friend of Manafort; and Max Katzman, the son and business partner of one of Manafort’s several high-end tailors.

Holland lived close to Manafort and is revealed to have helped him buy his Alexandria condo.

Last year, reports revealed that Holland was called to a grand jury examining Manafort and unsuccessfully tried to assert a privilege to avoid testifying.

Further, Democratic consultant Daniel Rabin, who also worked in Ukraine, is named on the prosecutors’ witness list.

Prosecutors have also named Manafort’s former personal assistant, Alex Trusko on the list, signaling plans to call him before the jury.

Trusko agreed to cooperate with the FBI early in the investigation and had provided details that helped prosecutors get search warrants for Manafort’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, and a nearby storage locker containing his business records.

Dennis Raico and James Brennan, both Federal Savings Bank employees are also featured on the prosecution’s witness list.

They have been granted immunity to testify at the trial.

According to reports, prosecutors will use witness statements made before the jury to make a case about Manafort’s pricey tastes following which, financial links will be drawn.

Reports noted on Saturday that the case being prepared by Mueller is expected to include testimony from the owner of a New York boutique where Manafort allegedly spent over $850,000 on high-end suits.

It will also feature an employee of a car dealership where Manafort’s wife bought a $130,000 Mercedes.

The owner of a Florida home-theater company and a manager of season-ticket sales for the New York Yankees will also present their stories relating to the lobbyist. 

According to Michael Zeldin, a former federal prosecutor, “The case will be proven by paper and those people who have a transactional relationship to the paper. All those people to say essentially that Manafort knew what he was doing.”

Meanwhile, a former federal prosecutor who is now a defense lawyer, Renato Mariotti said prosecutors likely want to show Manafort’s “luxurious lifestyle,” with the aim of making him less likeable to jurors.

Manafort has pleaded not guilty to 18 counts of bank and tax fraud and failure to file reports of foreign bank accounts.