Skip to content

Manafort Trial Likely to Go Into Next Week

Jurors asked judge to be released at 5 p.m.

Jurors have deliberated for two days on the 18 bank fraud and tax evasion charges against former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, shown leaving a hearing on his bail last year. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Jurors have deliberated for two days on the 18 bank fraud and tax evasion charges against former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, shown leaving a hearing on his bail last year. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

The trial of former Donald Trump presidential campaign manager Paul Manafort is likely to go into next week after the judge announced that jurors asked to leave Friday at 5 p.m.

Jurors asked shortly before 3 p.m. Eastern time that they be allowed to leave so one of them could attend “an event,” Judge T.S. Ellis III said. The announcement suggests that the jury is not close to reaching a verdict on the 18 bank fraud and tax evasion charges Manafort is being tried on.

Earlier Friday, Ellis said he would not honor a request from news organizations for information on jurors, citing death threats that he has gotten.

The jury reconvened Friday morning after deliberating for about seven hours on Thursday. At the end of the day Thursday, they sent a note to Ellis asking questions on the requirements for people to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts and asking the judge to redefine “reasonable doubt.”

Recent Stories

Seniority shakeup? House Democrats test committee norms

Republicans sink attempts to force release of Gaetz report

DOGE day afternoon on Capitol Hill

House task force finishes work on Trump assassination attempt

Hegseth soldiers on with meeting GOP senators

Protesters urging Congress to ‘flush bathroom bigotry’ arrested after sit-in