The jury has sent notes to Judge Ellis in this the first of two trials for Paul Manafort. Yesterday there were four questions:
An acquittal of Paul Manafort would add to criticism that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation hasn't been worth the time and expense.
A conviction, however, would allow Democrats and Mr Mueller's supporters to say ending the investigation would be premature. A Manafort conviction could also boost Mr Mueller's position as he negotiates with Mr Trump's lawyers over a potential interview.
Judge TS Ellis III told lawyers on the case that he later in the day he would address a motion from several media outlets to unseal discussions that took place over several days near the end of testimony.
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"A thirsty press is essential in a free country," Judge Ellis said.
Regarding the questions the jury had asked, Mr Ellis offered this instruction.
They had asked if the list of 400 or so exhibits could be amended in order to match pieces of evidence with the various counts against Mr Manafort. Mr Ellis said that was not possible.
The jury had asked for guidance on the requirements of a "shelf company," or an inactive company often sold to people aiming to bypass the registration process, to notify the US Treasury Department. He asked the six men and six women to rely on their "collective recollection" for the requirements.
The larger question legal experts were curious the jury asked was about defining "reasonable doubt" in this case. It may have indicated at least one of the 12 jurors had a doubt whether the prosecution met its burden of proof.
Mr Ellis indicated prosecutors had to prove their case past "doubt based on reason," but not "beyond possible doubt".
"I think we are optimistic the case might end soon with some sort of verdict," Judge TS Ellis said in open court after the jury reconvened for the second day of deliberations.
The Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, NBC and BuzzFeed News are asking the trial judge TS Ellis in the financial fraud trial to unseal the closed documents being used in the case.
Mr Ellis has scheduled a hearing for 2 pm EST to address the matter but had previously noted he would unseal all trial documents, "save one exception".
Mr Manafort's next trial involves more charges of fraud, but also counts on witness intimidation and matters related to his work for Ukrainian politicians
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Trump and his allies have sought to downplay the trial, claiming that it has nothing to do with either the president or a conspiracy with Russia to win the election. But Manafort didn’t suddenly change his lifetime m.o.—trading and leveraging influence for cash—when he joined the campaign. The Deripaska episode I described above, in which Manafort dangled access to the campaign in an attempt to “get whole” with the Russian oligarch, is just one example. According to the government, Manafort also offered a banking executive at Chicago’s Federal Savings Bank a position on the Trump campaign in exchange for help in obtaining approximately $16 million in loans, even though other Federal Savings Bank employees “identified serious issues” with Manafort’s loan application.
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.
Trump’s day was otherwise filled with the usual nonsense tweets about his parade being canceled due to its cost, trying to attack Andrew Cuomo about MAGA remarks, and trying to finagle SEC reporting regulations. But he did weigh in on today’s trial.
Mr Trump, speaking to journalists on the White House lawn, called the trial "sad" and said Mr Manafort is a "very good person" in his estimation.
Mr Trump said, waiting to board the Marine One helicopter on the White House lawn, he thinks it is a "a very sad day for our country."
He said Mr Manafort "worked for me for a very short period of time," but added "I think it's very sad what they've done to" him.
Mr Manafort served as his campaign manager for the summer of 2016 in an effort to bring some order to operations given his political operative experience since the 1970s. His reign began around the time Mr Trump was set to get the Republican party's nomination for the election.
By August 2017, however, the controversy over Mr Manafort's alleged secret lobbying on behalf of pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians like Mr Yanukovych got the better of him.
Eric Trump, one of the president's sons, told Fox News at the time: “My father just didn’t want to have the distraction looming over the campaign".
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