ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The jury weighing the fate of President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort ended its third day of deliberations Monday with no verdict.
The six-woman, six-man jury in Alexandria asked to stay slightly longer than usual -- until 6:15 p.m. Eastern time -- before going home for the night Monday. They are scheduled to renew their work this morning.
Jurors had no notes Monday and gave no indication of how close they are to a verdict. After court adjourned, Manafort's lawyer, Kevin Downing, said the defense was encouraged.
Outside the courthouse, Downing said, "Mr. Manafort's very happy to hear that" the jury would continue deliberating today. "He thinks it was a very good day."
The panel heard two weeks of testimony before beginning deliberations last week on the 18 counts of bank and tax fraud Manafort faces. Prosecutors allege that from 2010 to 2014, Manafort hid more than $15 million from the IRS -- money he made as a political consultant in Ukraine.
Manafort's attorneys didn't call witnesses in his defense, claiming the prosecution failed to meet its burden of proof. His attorneys also attacked the credibility of a key witness, one-time Manafort protege Rick Gates.
The trial is the first courtroom test of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, though the case doesn't involve allegations of Russian election interference.
Authorities say that when his income from Ukraine dried up in 2014, Manafort lied to banks to get millions of dollars in loans to support his seven-figure lifestyle.
On Thursday, the jurors asked U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III to clarify some legal elements in the case that had been raised by the defense team. They deliberated again Friday without asking for further guidance from the judge.
Manafort, 69, could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted of the most serious charges in the case.
The president has repeatedly spoken out publicly in support of Manafort, both at the outset of the trial and during jury deliberations.
On Monday morning, Trump tweeted that Mueller's investigators "are enjoying ruining people's lives and REFUSE to look at the real corruption on the Democrat side - the lies, the firings, the deleted Emails and soooo much more! Mueller's Angry Dems are looking to impact the election. They are a National Disgrace!"
Ellis conferred with lawyers twice Monday morning at sidebar conferences away from the public. It's not clear what was discussed.
Manafort sat at the defense table during both discussions.
Before the first sidebar, Ellis told lawyers: "We do not have a question at this time. If you need to communicate anything with me, you may come to the bench." Earlier, the judge spoke with the lawyers, right after he had welcomed the jurors.
The judge has said he would make transcripts of the sidebars public after the trial, with the exception of the jurors' names and any discussions that would involve Mueller's investigation of the Trump campaign.
Upon welcoming the jurors, Ellis noted the absence of Greg Andres, the lead prosecutor for Mueller, and said he hoped he wasn't ill. Assistant U.S. Attorney Uzo Asonye said Andres was fine but didn't say why he wasn't in court.
Information for this article was contributed by Matt Zapotosky, Lynh Bui, Tom Jackman and Devlin Barrett of The Washington Post; by Matthew Barakat, Chad Day and Eric Tucker of The Associated Press; and by David Voreacos, Andrew M Harris, Neil Weinberg and Daniel Flatley of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 08/21/2018