“Manafort trial is very sad.”

ALEXANDRIA, VA. » The judge in former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s fraud trial refused Friday to release the names of jurors, saying he has received threats and fears for their safety as well.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III revealed his concerns in explaining why he doesn’t intend to make jurors’ names public at the end of the trial, now in the second day of jury deliberations.

Shortly after the hearing,

“I’ve received criticism and threats,” Ellis said. “I imagine they would, too.”

The judge said he is under the protection of U.S. marshals. He declined to delve into specifics but said he’s been taken aback by the level of interest in the trial.

Also Friday, President Donald Trump issued a fresh defense of Manafort, calling him a “very good person.”

Manafort is accused of hiding from the IRS millions that he made advising Russia-backed politicians in Ukraine, and then lying to banks to get loans when the money dried up. He faces 18 felony counts on tax evasion and bank fraud.

“I think the whole Manafort trial is very sad,” Trump told reporters.

“When you look at what’s going on, I think it’s a very sad day for our country,” he said. “He worked for me for a very short period of time. But you know what, he happens to be a very good person.”

The financial fraud trial is the first courtroom test of the Russia probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

While allegations of collusion are being investigated, evidence of bank fraud and tax evasion unearthed during the probe has cast doubt on the integrity of Trump’s closest advisers.

But Manafort’s fate was far from clear. The case calls on the dozen jurors to follow the complexities of foreign bank accounts and shell companies, loan regulations and tax rules. It exposed details about the lavish lifestyle of the onetime political insider, including a $15,000 jacket made of ostrich leather.

The jury ended its first day of deliberations with a series of questions to the judge, including a request to “redefine” reasonable doubt.

The questions came after roughly seven hours of deliberation, delivered in a handwritten note to Ellis.

Along with the question on reasonable doubt, the jury asked about the list of exhibits, rules for reporting foreign bank accounts and the definition of “shelf companies,” a term used during the trial to describe some of the foreign companies used by Manafort.

Ellis told the jurors they need to rely on their collective memory of the evidence to answer most questions. As for reasonable doubt, he described it as “a doubt based on reason” and told jurors it does not require proof “beyond all doubt.”