Former Illinois Congressman Mel Reynolds is on trial for allegedly not filing tax returns. 

The charges were filed against Reynolds more than two years ago. Since then the former Congressman has fired his attorney, had an arrest warrant issued because he failed to return from a trip to Africa in time, been locked up and then releas ed on electronic monitoring.

One of the first witnesses called was businessman Willie Wilson, who recently ran for mayor of Chicago. Wilson testified that he paid Reynolds more than 50 thousand dollars in 2009 and 2010 for consulting work. The government claims Reynolds never paid taxes on that money.

During cross examination, Reynolds, who is representing himself, tried to prove Wilson is inconsistent, and that the payments were for travel expenses.