LEGAL/PAUL MANAFORT/ROBERT MUELLER/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “After three full days of deliberations, the jury in the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort still has not returned a verdict. Jurors will return Tuesday [8-21-18] at 9:30 a.m. ET. Manafort is charged with 18 counts of tax evasion, bank fraud and hiding foreign bank accounts in the first case brought to trial by special counsel Robert Mueller as part of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Judge T.S. Ellis and both teams of lawyers met twice met Monday [8-20-18] morning in private. The conversations lasted about 10 minutes each, and Ellis said transcripts will be made public at the end of the trial. The trial carries major implications for the future of Mueller’s investigation. Trump has repeatedly called the probe a ‘witch hunt’ that hasn’t found evidence of Russian collusion with his campaign, and his allies in and out of the White House say the special counsel should wrap things up. While jurors have had the case to deliberate since Thursday morning, developments outside the jury room have added to the high-stakes nature of the trial as Trump continues to rail against Mueller and also defended Manafort.”
–Katelyn Polantz, Dan Berman, Marshall Cohen, Liz Stark and Kara Scannell, “Manafort jury ends third day without a verdict,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, August 20, 2018 6:26 pm