VT Insights: Bernie Sanders 2016 campaign strategist first witness in Manafort trial

Aki Soga | Burlington Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Manafort arrives in court as trial set to begin The trial of Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort on tax evasion and bank fraud charges got underway at a courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia on Tuesday. (July 31)

Tad Devine, Bernie Sanders' chief strategist in the Vermont senator's 2016 presidential bid, was all over the news Tuesday.

That's what happens when you appear as the first witness in a high-profile trial like that of Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign manager.

Devine was the lead witness for the prosecution in the trial of Manafort, who pleaded not guilty to federal bank fraud and tax crime charges. His appearance is unrelated to his work for Sanders.

As the news website Mic reports: "Devine and Manafort worked together on the 2010 campaign of the now-former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian leader who fled the country in 2014 after the Ukrainian revolution."

William Brangahm of PBS explains: "... Manafort, when he was hired in Ukraine to work for Viktor Yanukovych, asked Tad Devine to come over and to run ads and to write some speeches and to help do polling and try to help craft the on Yanukovych’s message."

From the Washington Examiner: "Questioning Devine for the government, prosecutor Greg Andres appeared to be working to establish how Manafort made his money and the extent of his work for Yanukovych and the Party of Regions."

Questioned by attorneys for Manafort, Devine offered some praise for his one-time business associate.

From CNN: “Paul worked harder than anybody," Devine testified. "There were emails through the night going on.”

The Manafort trial is expected to last up to three weeks. That Devine, whom Politico once described as "the consultant who helped engineer Sanders’ plans for a protest candidacy into a real campaign," is a central figure simply reflects the complex activities and reach of campaign consultants in modern politics.