[ By Howard Haykin ] As we approach Monday's start of the Rajat Gupta insider trading trial, cognoscenti on the Street are wondering: Will the U.S. prosecutors bring the "bling?"  Can they stand up to the star quality that this trial is sure to offer? Yes, the prosecution released an A-List of potential witnesses for the trial, which is expected to be "Prime Time" entertainment all the way.  For starters, the trial features the leading defense attorney, Gary Naftalis of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, who befriends all sides with his affable home-spun charm - that's lace with lethal legal barbs. The defendant, Rajat Gupta, ran preeminent consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, and served on the Boards of Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble.  He has relationships with top professionals throughout the world, and sported a close friendship (that will be debated in trial) and business relationship with top business people, including convicted insider trading manager Raj Rajaratnam.  This latter relationship is the one that got Mr. Gupta into 'hot water' with the feds. And Then There Are the Prospective Witnesses. Topping the more than 50-person list submitted to U.S District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan are sure to be Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein, along with Goldman President Gary Cohn. Gupta's attorneys submitted a no fewer than 116 names, that included Blankfein and Cohn, Berkshire Hathaway Chief Warren Buffett, and best-selling author Deepak Chopra - who founded the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, CA.  Both lists were made public on Thursday. Rakoff has asked for 100 prospective jurors to be summoned to court for the first day of the trial and said opening arguments could be heard later the same day. Jennifer Padovani, a Goldman Sachs director, is also on the government’s list, as is Steven Peikin, a lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell who advises the New York-based bank. Others on the list: Representatives from companies affected by the alleged insider-trading scheme, including Alan "A.G." Lafley, retired chairman of Procter & Gamble, and Jon Moeller, P&G’s CFO. Former Galleon executives are also on the government’s list, including Raj Rajaratnam and his younger brother, Rengan; Galleon co-founder Gary Rosenbach; Ian Horowitz, who was Raj Rajaratnam’s trader; and Michael Cardillo, a former Galleon portfolio manager. Anil Kumar, a former McKinsey & Co. partner who pleaded guilty to insider trading and testified as a government witness at Rajaratnam’s trial last year is also the list. Gupta ran McKinsey from 1994 to 2003. Among those on Gupta’s list are Goldman Sachs director Claes Dahlback and Berkshire Hathaway reinsurance chief Ajit Jain, a close friend of Gupta. The two were identified in a hearing before Rakoff in January as possible defense witnesses. The case: U.S. v. Gupta, 11-cr-00907, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). To continue reading and obtain further names/details, go to:  [Bloomberg, 5/17/12].