Manafort Lawyers Request Delay in Next Trial; Complain About Mueller’s Evidence

While the jury is still deliberating in Paul Manafort‘s bank and tax fraud trial in Virginia federal court lawyers are busily getting ready for his next legal battle, which will take place in September in Washington, D.C..

Since his second trial is rapidly approaching, his legal team is starting to feel  pressured for time, and are complaining that special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is asking to present too much evidence.

They filed a motion with the court on Thursday, asking for a time extension for the trial to begin and saying they want to file a “joint pretrial statement” with prosecutors.

One of the reasons they say they need a time extension is that there is an excessively long list potential evidence items that has been requested by Mueller‘s office.

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Prosecutors have nearly three times the number of exhibits to present in the upcoming Washington, D.C., trial compared to the Virginia trial that is still in jury deliberations, according to a Thursday court filing obtained by CNN.

“Mueller team has three times as much evidence for next Manafort trial”

“To date, the Special Counsel has provided counsel with well over 1000 proposed exhibits,” the court filing said, noting that most of them were not part of Manafort’s current trial in Virginia, despite both cases being related to Manafort’s work in Ukraine.

Prosecutor Greg Andres said in the Virginia court Wednesday that 388 documents were submitted into evidence in the case currently under jury deliberation.

The judge in the D.C. criminal case told prosecutors to “review” their collection of evidence, according to CNN and granted Manafort’s attorneys a four day extension.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed to the extension which was not for as long as Manafort’s lawyers wanted. She issued an order late Thursday stating that the joint statement prepared by the two sides together must now be filed by August 24th. She also said that by August 21st Mueller’s office must inform Manafort’s attorneys which exhibits from their extensive list they plan on withdrawing and not using at trial.

“The government is encouraged to review the exhibit list closely with an eye towards streamlining the presentation of its case,” Judge Jackson wrote in her court order.

The two sides are scheduled to discuss questions for the questionnaire they will use to select member of the jury at a hearing before the judge on August 28th.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.