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Paul Manafort's Trial.

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#22

More on Manafort’s wrongs vs. what T may do if he gets convicted. Alot of moving parts with this.

In U.S. District Court on Wednesday, the lead prosecutor, Greg Andres, acknowledged the case’s complexity and thanked the jurors for their patience, while leaving unsaid perhaps the most significant nexus to the broader Russia investigation: With every new foreign bank account, fraudulent loan application, and falsified tax return the government presented, we learned more about the lengths the president’s campaign chairman was willing to go to hide his financial relationships with Russian or pro-Russian oligarchs (at least one of whom he continued to leverage while working on the Trump campaign).

The resulting portrait is of an operative who blithely defrauded his own government while working for pro-Russian entities—a striking microcosm of the question at the heart of the sprawling Russia investigation: namely, whether the Trump campaign compromised the 2016 election while working with Moscow to undermine their shared foe, Hillary Clinton.

The president, for his part, may already be laying the groundwork for a pardon. Earlier this month, he called Manafort a “Reagan/Dole darling” and claimed he was being treated worse than “legendary mob boss, killer, ‘Public Enemy Number One,’” Al Capone. “Now serving solitary confinement—although convicted of nothing?” Trump wrote. “Where is the Russian Collusion?” Manafort’s trial, as dull and tedious and disappointing as it was to many, answered that question again and again.

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#23

OPINION from another Federal Judge

(Nancy Gertner, a retired U.S. District Court judge in Massachusetts, is a lecturer at Harvard Law School.)

The performance of U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III in the trial of Paul Manafort on bank fraud and tax evasion charges has been decidedly unusual.

During the trial, Ellis intervened regularly, and mainly against one side: the prosecution. The judge’s interruptions occurred in the presence of the jury and on matters of substance, not courtroom conduct.

He disparaged the prosecution’s evidence, misstated its legal theories, even implied that prosecutors had disobeyed his orders when they had not.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/jury-begins-deliberations-in-paul-manaforts-tax--and-bank-fraud-trial/2018/08/16/d2b0f486-a170-11e8-8e87-c869fe70a721_story.html?utm_term=.1b80ce9e5296

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#24

Politico - Manafort Trial Day 13

“I had no idea this case would incite this emotion,” U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III said in an open court hearing, responding to a motion from seven news organizations, including POLITICO, seeking access to sealed materials related to the trial that would have publicly identified the jurors.

Ellis denied the motion, telling the courtroom that jurors were "scared” and “afraid.” As a result, Ellis said, he didn’t “feel right” releasing the names of the 12-person jury.

Asked whether he might pardon the 69-year old Manafort — who is facing the prospect of decades in prison on bank- and tax-fraud charges — the president did not respond directly. “I don’t talk about that. I think it’s very sad what they’ve done to Paul Manafort,” Trump said.
Paul Manafort’s trial will stretch into a fourth week, as jurors headed home Friday without reaching a verdict for the second straight day and the judge overseeing the case alluded to “threats” the jury may be receiving.

Downing, Manafort’s attorney, welcomed Trump’s comments.

“Mr. Manafort appreciates the support of President Trump,” the defense attorney told reporters outside the courthouse Friday afternoon.

Ellis reading the news

During his remarks Friday morning, Ellis acknowledged that his behavior had generated media scrutiny.

A 78-year old Ronald Reagan appointee, Ellis has frequently clashed with Mueller’s prosecutors in a bid to keep the trial moving at a rapid clip — a storyline news outlets have been highlighting.

“I’m no stranger to criticism," Ellis said. "This case has brought it to a new level."

Manafort watch

Manafort was in the courtroom Friday for all three sessions — including the judge’s discussion of the media’s request for greater access.

The veteran political consultant, who spends his nights at the nearby Alexandria Detention Center, looked ruddy and emotional as he entered the court Thursday. However, he appeared to be in good spirits Friday, flashing a smile to his wife as he entered the courtroom and blowing her a kiss as he left.

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#25

Bloomberg - Manafort Trial - Day 3 deliberations

Lawyers Huddle With Judge (11:25 a.m.)

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III conferred with lawyers twice Monday morning at sidebar conferences away from the public. It’s not clear what was discussed.

‘Peace and Safety’ of the Jurors (10:21 a.m.)

Upon welcoming the jurors, Ellis noted the absence of Greg Andres, the lead prosecutor for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and said he hoped he wasn’t ill. Assistant U.S. Attorney Uzo Asonye said Andres indeed was fine, but didn’t say why he wasn’t in court. On Friday, Ellis revealed he had received threats and was concerned for the “peace and safety’’ of the jurors after the high-profile case concludes. As a result, he rejected a request from a media coalition to release the jurors’ names after the verdict.

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#26

Politico - Manafort Trial - Day 3 Deliberations

The six men and six women who have been together since the end of July notably sat clustered together in the jury box — rather than spread out in several extra seats — when they returned from the weekend to the ninth-floor federal courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia, for a brief recap of their instructions from U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III.

“You may deliberate as long or as little as you like,” the judge said as he ran through his well-worn script questioning the jurors about whether they had researched the case outside the courtroom or spoken to others about it (they said they hadn’t). Then a court security official escorted the jury to a nearby conference room.

As they did during the first two days of jury deliberation, dozens of reporters passed the time Monday camped out in Ellis’ courtroom reading newspapers, doing crossword puzzles and sharing theories about the case.

Manafort, who is being held in a courthouse cell as the jury deliberates, met briefly with his legal team. His lawyers then returned to the Westin hotel across the plaza from the courthouse and settled into their regular table at the lobby restaurant.

Back inside the courthouse, an intern for a television network said she spotted a cart of food being wheeled into the room where the 12-person jury was meeting.

The Manafort jurors have long known they are assigned to a high-profile case; the packed courtroom, reporters dashing out to file stories and fleet of satellite trucks deployed around the Alexandria, Virginia, courthouse leave little doubt of that.

However, Trump’s comments Friday calling Manafort a “good person” and his trial a “very sad day” may have intensified the pressure on jurors as they try to follow U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis’ repeated instructions to ignore media coverage and other public commentary about the case.

Manafort’s defense team has embraced the presidential condolences and seems to have embarked on a public campaign in favor of their client. Defense attorney Kevin Downing has spoken briefly to the phalanx of TV cameras outside the courthouse on each of the last three days that court was in session, after keeping mum outside the courtroom during the first few weeks of the trial.

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#27

Washington Post - Manafort Trial 4th day Deliberations

After the panel went home for the night Monday, defense attorney Kevin Downing said outside the courthouse that his client was happy to see the jury continues to deliberate. “He thinks it was a very good day,” said Downing.
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Prosecutors charge that from 2010 to 2014, Manafort hid more than $15 million from the IRS — money he made as a political consultant in Ukraine.

When that income ended in 2014, authorities charge Manafort lied to banks to get millions of dollars more in loans to support his seven-figure lifestyle.

The president has repeatedly spoken out publicly in support of Manafort, both at the outset of the trial and during jury deliberations.

On Monday morning, Trump tweeted that Mueller’s investigators “are enjoying ruining people’s lives and REFUSE to look at the real corruption on the Democrat side — the lies, the firings, the deleted Emails and soooo much more! Mueller’s Angry Dems are looking to impact the election. They are a National Disgrace!”

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#28

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/manafort-jury-suggests-it-cannot-come-to-a-consensus-on-a-single-count/2018/08/21/a2478ac0-a559-11e8-a656-943eefab5daf_story.html?utm_term=.276f300a604b

The jury in the trial of President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort indicated Tuesday it is split on at least one count and asked the judge for instructions on how to proceed.

Around 11 a.m. of the panel’s fourth day of deliberations, a note with a question came from the jury foreman. “Your honor, if we cannot come to a consensus on a single count, how should we fill in the jury verdict form for that count,” the note said, according to U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III, “and what does that mean for the final verdict?”

We’re getting very close to finding out Manafort’s fate . . .

#29

Guilty on eight counts of fraud!

Alexandria, Virginia (CNN) President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been found guilty on eight counts of financial crimes, a major victory for special counsel Robert Mueller.

But jurors were unable to reach a verdict on 10 charges, and Judge T.S. Ellis declared a mistrial on those counts.

Manafort was found guilty of five tax fraud charges, one charge of hiding foreign bank accounts and two counts of bank fraud.

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#30

He’s got time coming. And is he now tee-d up for a pardon.

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#31

I threw an absolute internal shitfit (ok maybe I also dropped a few swears out loud in front of the whole office) when I got the WaPo breaking news email earlier this morning with the title “News Alert: Manafort jury suggests they ‘cannot come to a consensus on a single count’” and I read it as the jury couldn’t agree on any count!

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#32

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#9

Yes…

quid pro quo = a favor or advantage granted or expected in return for something.

Pundits were also saying yesterday about Gate’s testimony, Prosecutors were able to put in evidence as well that Manafort requested a numbers document in word/excel perhaps in lieu of PDF which could not be altered.

Hard to know how Pence works into this…but I think you are right Mueller has a line in on all of it.

Given that Flynn was considered a threat,lying to FBI on not talking about sanctions, and an official word from DA Sally Yates, you wonder if FBI got in a wiretap perhaps…that sounds ominous of course, but it does feel a bit like spy v spy here.

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