“A federal judge on Thursday gave special counsel Robert Mueller extra time he had requested to decide whether to seek a retrial for former Trump campaign boss Paul Manafort on the 10 criminal charges that jurors deadlocked on last week,” CNBC reports.
“But exactly how much time Mueller will have remains to be seen.”
“Lawyers for Paul Manafort suggested President Trump is making it harder for his ex-campaign boss to get a fair trial as they asked a judge to move his next case on charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller out of a Washington, D.C. federal court,” CNBC reports.
His lawyers claim that Manafort has “become an unwilling player in the larger drama between Mr. Mueller and President Trump” — an association made worse by Trump weighing in on the trial.
“Paul Manafort’s defense team held talks with prosecutors to resolve a second set of charges against the former Trump campaign chairman before he was convicted last week, but they didn’t reach a deal, and the two sides are now moving closer to a second trial next month,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The plea discussions occurred as a Virginia jury was spending four days deliberating tax and bank fraud charges against Mr. Manafort… That jury convicted him on eight counts and deadlocked on 10 others. Prosecutors accused Mr. Manafort of avoiding taxes on more than $16 million he earned in the early 2010s through political consulting work in Ukraine.”
“The plea talks on the second set of charges stalled over issues raised by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, one of the people said. It isn’t clear what those issues were, and the proposed terms of the plea deal couldn’t immediately be determined.”
Franklin Foer: “According to McCain aides, the crucial moment came in the planning for the 2008 convention. I was told that Manafort lobbied desperately to become manager of the Republican National Convention, to take on the role of orchestrating the show. This was the sort of job that he held several times before. It represented the sort of behind-the-scenes power that he sought his entire career. Because of his relationship with Davis, and because of his resume, he thought of the job as something close to his birthright.”
“But McCain didn’t want any further association with Manafort, so he denied him the job, a rejection that sent Manafort into a fit of rage and depression. All the evidence for rejecting Paul Manafort as a man of dubious character was amply available in 2008—and McCain acted upon it.”
“The Paul Manafort trial set for September in Washington is expected to last three weeks and, on the basis of a list of 1,500 possible exhibits, will delve far more deeply into how he operated as a lobbyist and consultant than was done in his just-completed trial in Virginia,” the Washington Post reports.
“The estimated trial timeline and exhibits were included in a joint filing Friday night in federal court in Washington by Manafort’s defense and prosecutors with special counsel Robert Mueller.”
“President Trump’s lawyers and a cadre of informal White House advisers claim they’ve convinced him not to pardon Paul Manafort – but White House officials expect the president to do it anyway,” Politico reports.
Said one former campaign official: “Trump is setting it up. He’s referring to the investigation as a ‘witch hunt’ and saying this never would have happened to an aide to Hillary Clinton.”
“Ever since Trump discovered that he could unilaterally pardon individuals, aides say he’s been thrilled by that level of unchecked power.”
A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds 60% of Americans oppose a Manafort pardon.
Rudy Giuliani said that President Trump sought his lawyers’ advice several weeks ago on the possibility of pardoning Paul Manafort, the Washington Post reports.
“The subject of the pardon came up while Manafort was on trial on multiple charges of bank fraud and tax evasion, and the president was expressing his anger at how federal prosecutors had ‘beat up’ and mistreated the former Trump campaign chairman, Giuliani said. The president’s lawyers counseled him against the idea, suggesting he should wait until special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation was concluded, and Trump agreed.”
President Trump told a Fox News reporter he would consider pardoning his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was convicted on Tuesday of bank and tax fraud, Reuters reports.
“Fox News has been airing excerpts of the interview with Trump, which is scheduled to be shown in its entirety on Thursday morning. The excerpts have not included a clip of Trump saying he would consider pardoning Manafort.”
Playbook: “For Mueller and Manafort, the next trial starts Sept. 17 in Washington D.C. The now-convicted former Trump campaign chairman has pleaded not guilty to charges of money laundering, failing to register as a foreign agent for his work in Ukraine and obstruction of justice over the allegations of witness tampering after his initial indictments.”
“Expect Manafort’s lawyers to go after Rick Gates if and when the government brings him back to the witness stand. There’s a preliminary hearing in the D.C. trial next Tuesday, Aug. 28.”
“The Mueller prosecutors will be back before Judge Ellis on Aug. 29 in Alexandria to say whether they want to refile the 10 counts that the jury couldn’t reach a verdict on: failure to register his foreign bank accounts in three years, as well as seven of the bank fraud and bank fraud conspiracy charges. Ellis also hasn’t yet set a sentencing date for the charges Manafort was convicted on.”
The jury in Paul Manafort’s fraud case indicated in a note Tuesday that it is struggling to reach a unanimous verdict on all 18 tax- and bank-fraud charges, the Washington Post reports.
New York Times: “It was not immediately clear if the jurors’ question suggested that they had reached a verdict on 17 of the 18 counts of bank and tax fraud brought against Mr. Manafort, a former campaign chairman for President Trump.”
“A jury is still deliberating Paul Manafort’s future, but even if he’s acquitted his legal battle will only be halfway over,” USA Today reports.
“The former campaign chairman for President Trump is due back in court in Washington next month for a second trial centered on allegations of lying to the FBI, money laundering and foreign lobbying.”
“This time prosecutors say they have even more evidence – more than double the amount they showed jurors in Virginia. “
“The jury in the criminal tax and bank fraud trial against one-time Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort signaled in a note to the judge Friday afternoon they are unlikely to reach a verdict before the weekend,” The Hill reports.
“In a note to Judge T.S. Ellis III, the jury said they would like to finish at 5 p.m. because one of the jurors has an event they would like to attend. Ellis said he will bring the jury back in the courtroom at 10 minutes to 5 p.m. to ask what time they would like to reconvene on Monday.”
“So I generally choose not to hang on every twist of the Mueller investigation, but if Trump pardons Manafort (after maybe having promised a pardon to get him not to cooperate) and gets away with it, then we’re in a banana republic. We just are.”
— Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), on Twitter.
President Trump “called his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort a ‘very good person’ and criticized his trial on bank fraud and money laundering charges, as a jury began a second day of deliberations on a verdict,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Trumo: “I think the whole Manafort trial is very sad. I think it is a very sad day for our country. He worked for me for a very short period of time. But, you know what, he happens to be a very good person. And I think it’s very sad what they’ve done to Paul Manafort.”
“Trump declined to say whether he would pardon his former aide if convicted.”
“Defense attorneys for Paul Manafort rested their case on Tuesday without calling any witnesses or having the former Trump campaign chairman testify in the trial where he is accused of bank and tax fraud,” Reuters reports.
“At the same time, the judge overseeing the trial rejected Manafort’s motion to throw out the 18 charges against him.”
Politico: “Closing statements will begin Wednesday, with jury deliberations to follow.”
“Paul Manafort turned to Jared Kushner for help in an attempt to secure a Trump administration job for a Chicago banker at the center of Manafort’s fraud trial,” Bloomberg reports.
“Manafort… got a quick response.”
“‘On it!’’ Kushner replied on Nov. 30, 2016, according to an email submitted by prosecutors into evidence Monday at Manafort’s trial on bank and tax-fraud charges.”
Yahoo News: “As the trial of President Trump’s former campaign chairman resumes today, it appears prosecutors from special counsel Robert Mueller’s office have decided not to call three seemingly key figures. The absence of these witnesses offers intriguing hints about potential ongoing investigations and additional prosecutions that could yet take place.”
“A verdict in Paul Manafort’s Virginia trial could come as early as this week, but it will hardly be the last word on his fate. A conviction would threaten to jail Manafort, 69, for the rest of his life. But he would have the option to appeal — or hope for a politically explosive pardon from President Trump,” Politico reports.
“Even if a jury acquits the former Trump 2016 campaign chairman on the tax and bank fraud charges that special counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors have detailed out over the past two weeks, Manafort is hardly out of the woods.”
“Most notably, the longtime GOP operative still faces a second federal trial slated to begin in mid-September in Washington. And that case, accusing Manafort of money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent while lobbying for the government of Ukraine, could be even more challenging.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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