8/20/2018

2016 ELECTION/LEGAL/PAUL MANAFORT/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The jury in the bank and tax fraud trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort ended its third day of deliberations on Monday [8-20-18] without reaching a verdict. The judge said the jury would reconvene on Tuesday [8-218-18] morning. The case is the first to go to trial stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, although the charges largely predate Manafort’s five months working on Donald Trump’s successful campaign. Manafort faces five counts of filing false tax returns, four counts of failing to disclose offshore bank accounts, and nine counts of bank fraud. If convicted on all the charges, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. A conviction would undermine efforts by Trump and some Republican lawmakers to paint Mueller’s Russia inquiry as a political witch hunt, while an acquittal would be a setback for the special counsel. In a break with convention, Trump weighed in on the trial on Friday, calling the case against Manafort at the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, ‘very sad’ and lauding his former associate as a ‘very good person.'”

Nathan Layne, Karen Freifeld, “Jury in ex-Trump aide Manafort’s trial adjourns for day without a verdict,” Reuters, August 20, 2018 3:03 am