Manafort trial Day 15: Jury meets for third day as Trump-fueled political cacophony grows

Source: Politico


Trump’s comments calling Manafort a ‘good person’ and his trial a ‘very sad day’ intensified the pressure on jurors.

By JOSH GERSTEIN and DARREN SAMUELSOHN 08/20/2018 05:06 AM EDT Updated 08/20/2018 10:36 AM EDT

Jury deliberations entered a third day Monday in Paul Manafort’s tax- and bank-fraud with questions swirling about jurors’ ability to ignore the politically charged cacophony enveloping them, including President Donald Trump’s public suggestion that his former campaign chairman’s trial is a miscarriage of justice.

The six men and six women who have been together since the end of July notably sat clustered together in the jury box — rather than spread out in several extra seats — when they returned from the weekend to the ninth-floor federal courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia, for a brief recap of their instructions from U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III.

"You may deliberate as long or as little as you like," the judge said as he ran through his well-worn script questioning the jurors about whether they had researched the case outside the courtroom or spoken to others about it (they said they hadn't). Then a court security official escorted the jury to a nearby conference room.

The 12-person jury has long known they are assigned to a high-profile case; the packed courtroom, reporters dashing out to file stories and fleet of satellite trucks deployed around the Alexandria, Virginia, courthouse leave little doubt of that.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/20/manafort-trial-jury-trump-justice-788491