Manafort trial a must for locals
Neighbors are devoted to real-life legal drama
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Most days, they are among the first in line.
In a sea of dark suits, they lean more toward summer casual and comfortable shoes.
Outside of an army of journalists chronicling the criminal fraud trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, few have tracked the proceedings more closely than the residents of the high-rise community that surrounds the federal courthouse.
Many are retirees or those who work from home. Most regard the trial as entertainment, a curiosity or a civics lesson. Sometimes a combination of all three.
During opening arguments and this week’s testimony by Manafort’s longtime business partner Rick Gates, they packed the benches in the ninth-floor courtroom and in an overflow room three floors below where the proceedings were beamed in via closed-circuit television.
Among the group was a busy knitter, whose handiwork kept pace with the rhythm of the lawyers’ questioning.
There have been more than a few nappers, including a man who dozed off during Gates’ testimony – on the right shoulder of a journalist. The reporter was careful not to rouse the elderly man until it was necessary to relieve the weight on his note-taking arm.
“Last week, I just got hooked,” said James Dana Adams, a retired federal worker who has been very much awake throughout the proceedings.
Adams, who lives two blocks away from the Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse, said he followed the Manafort case for months through news reports but wasn’t aware until last week that members of the public were permitted to observe trials.
“I’ve been fascinated on so many different levels, watching the whole story as it’s being pieced together in court,” said the 66-year-old spectator, clad in shorts and casual shirt.
George and Nancy Seaver, who have lived near the courthouse for several years and had never attended a trial before Manafort’s, said they were moved by the divisive political climate that reigns in and around the nation’s capital. “We felt that this is the time we should see our system in action,” Nancy Seaver said.
George Seaver, a retired risk management executive, said he and his wife had followed the case and desired a closer view, given its proximity to their home.
“It is interesting to see how the proceedings are going – who is telling the truth and who isn’t,” George Seaver said.
The Seavers and Adams have been amused by the unusually active role played by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III. The jurist, who has a taskmaster’s reputation, has fully lived up to his profile, continually challenging prosecutors to pick up the pace of the case.
“Judges should be patient,” Ellis, 78, declared Wednesday. “They made a mistake when they confirmed me.”
The comment sent a ripple of laughter across the benches in both courtrooms, including the gallery where Adams watched intently.
The surge in public interest has not escaped Ellis.
Presiding over an unrelated immigration case as a packed gallery waited for the Manafort main event, Ellis lamented that the public doesn’t take more inter- est in the everyday proceedings of the criminal justice system. He said more people should be exposed to the legal plight of undocumented immigrants.
Ellis’ off-the-cuff commentary is one of the reasons Adams comes back to court, day after day.
Jim Clark, a retired attorney, said he’s reached a verdict, and it won’t please Manafort.
“I’ve spent a lot of time following the whole Trump thing,” said Clark, outfitted in appropriate retirement gear of Hawaiian shirt and sandals.
Clark said he was “convinced” that Gates was telling the truth, despite his many acknowledged faults.
After Gates’ testimony, there was a drop in attendance, opening more than few spaces on the ninth and sixth floors of the courthouse.
Perhaps it was time for a nap.
“Last week, I just got hooked.”
James Dana Adams Retired federal worker