Manafort Jury Deliberations Reach Third Day
Manafort Jury Deliberations Reach Third Day
Jurors deciding the tax and bank fraud trial of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort deliberate the case for a third day Monday.
The six-man, six-woman panel has been discussing the case behind closed doors in a Virginia courthouse since last week.
During the two-week trial, prosecutors said Manafort hid millions of dollars in offshore accounts in order to avoid paying U.S. taxes.
They alleged much of the money came from Manafort's lobbying for deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych before joining U.S. President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign.
Manafort's defense team, which rested its case without calling any witnesses to testify, said the prosecution failed to sufficiently prove Manafort's guilt.
It also worked to discredit the key prosecution witness in the case, Trump's former deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, who had already pleaded guilty to helping hide millions in income from U.S. tax authorities.
The trial is the first conducted by special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutors in connection with their wide-ranging investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.