LEGAL/PAUL MANAFORT/RUSSIA: “The judge assigned to the criminal case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his ex-deputy Rick Gates held a closed-door hearing Wednesday [2-7-18] on a request by three of Gates’ attorneys to quit the case.
Gates and his three defense attorneys — Shanlon Wu, Walter Mack and AnneMarie McAvoy — arrived just before 10:30 a.m. in the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson. Two prosecutors from special counsel Robert Mueller’s office also appeared to be on hand for the session, but the public, reporters and clerks for other judges were barred from the courtroom with shutters placed over the windows in the courtroom doors.
There was no sign of a lawyer Gates reportedly added to his team in recent weeks, Thomas Green, a high-powered D.C. defense attorneys known for negotiating plea bargain deals with prosecutors. He has not filed a formal appearance in the case, which is the typical procedure when changing counsel.
After about an hour and 15 minutes, Wu, Mack and McAvoy emerged from the courtroom but said little to shed light on the largely sealed motion they filed last week asking to be excused from further work on the case…
An entry posted to the court’s docket Wednesday afternoon said Jackson had taken the lawyers’ request under advisement, but the court gave no indication about the nature of the apparent disagreement between Gates and his legal team…
Manafort and his attorneys were not present for the hearing Wednesday.”
-Josh Gerstein, “Judge holds hearing on Gates’ lawyers request to exit case,” Politico, Feb. 7, 2018 01:41pm