It’s hurry up, wait as Manafort fate decided
No verdict as jury wraps up 2nd day, tries again Monday
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Washington is known for its political blockbusters, but the biggest show in town this steamy summer is the Paul Manafort trial, where nervous lawyers, edgy reporters and chattering gawkers are on a hairtrigger wait for the jury to return with a verdict.
As the second day of deliberations wound down, a phalanx of television cameras was fixed in front of the courthouse door and lawyers huddled in a hotel restaurant across the street where a member of the defense team performed a card trick.
Inside the courtroom, reporters read books or battled crossword puzzles.
The courthouse bars visitors from bringing in electronic devices, so emails, social media, phone calls and the rest were off limits.
Manafort, 69, has said nothing to the news media since the trial began nearly three weeks ago, only “no sir” and a few other comments to the judge when asked if he was planning to testify.
He has pleaded not guilty to 18 charges of tax evasion, bank fraud and conspiracy.
If convicted, he faces a maximum 305 years in prison.
He also faces another trial on related charges next month in Washington, D.C.
Manafort and the rest are waiting for a knock on the side door of the 9th-floor courtroom, a signal that the 12-member jury is ready to deliver its verdict. That could come as early as Monday, when deliberations will resume.
Manafort has been held in a courthouse jail, so he can be brought in when a verdict is ready.
District Court Judge T.S. Ellis, with more than 30 years on the bench, claimed Friday he had “no idea” the case would arouse such public interest. It’s the first trial stemming from the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Asked by media organizations to release the names of jurors in the case, Ellis declined. He said he’s received threats since the trial began and travels under the protection of U.S. Marshals. He expressed concern about endangering members of the jury.
President Donald Trump clearly has followed the trial of the former aide — once a powerful Republican strategist, Washington lobbyist and political consultant to foreign dictators — who steered him through the contentious Republican National Convention in Cleveland two summers ago as the chairman of his campaign.
“I think it’s a very sad day for our country,” he told reporters Friday on the South Lawn of the White House when asked about the case. “He worked for me for a very short time, but you know what, he happens to be a very good person.”
Manafort worked without a salary at the top of the Trump campaign for five months. He stepped down after The New York Times reported he had received millions of dollars from the ousted government in Ukraine.
His alleged attempts to hide the money in foreign bank accounts are among the charges he faces here.
The courtyard outside the Albert V. Bryan United Defense team attorney Kevin Downing wades into the media Friday near the courthouse. States Courthouse resembles a cross between a tent city and a RV park, with canopies to shade live reports by TV correspondents and satellite trucks to beam them around the world.
When news breaks, some reporters dash out of the courtroom and take an elevator to the second floor, where a payphone — it costs 50 cents — is available.
Others rush down the stairs or escalator and out of the building, passing word to colleagues nearby or retrieving their phones and laptops from a nearby cafe or hotel.
Still others stay in the courtroom to keep taking notes and to stop a rival from claiming the seat.
The journalists went through a fire drill of sorts Thursday afternoon when there was a knock on the courtroom’s side door.
The marshal sauntered over, opened the door and slipped inside.
The marshal emerged with a folded piece of paper and delivered it to the clerk, who handed it to the judge.
A frenzy of activity erupted.
Soon the prosecutors and defense lawyers assembled at their respective tables, and Manafort was ushered into the courtroom.
But the note was a list of four questions for the judge. The jurors wanted to know a clearer definition of reasonable doubt.
The judge answered the question, sent the jury home and had them reassemble Friday morning.
Another jolt arrived Friday afternoon when the marshal retrieved a second note from the jury. The fire drill repeated itself, but there was again no verdict. The jurors just wanted the judge to know that they planned to finish their work at 5 p.m. because one of them had an event to attend.
They soon departed for the weekend, and the show folded its tents until Monday.