U.S. prosecutors who have been tasked with investigating former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort have requested to be granted more time to decide on his retrial. The jury presiding over Manafort’s case were deadlocked over ten claims, and prosecutors originally had until Wednesday to decide whether or not to hold a retrial. However, they reported that the businessman’s defense asked for a 30-day extension to file their post-trial motions. The defense was unable to meet this deadline.
In a filing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, the prosecutors asked for a one-week extension on their deadline. Manafort’s defense did not object to this request.
Trump’s former ally is facing seven counts of bank fraud and three counts of failing to disclose foreign bank accounts. Due to the number of claims and requests, “the government does not at this time have sufficient information to make an informed decision on whether it will seek retrial of the remaining counts.”
Manafort has already been found guilty of eight charges, as he gave false tax returns to the U.S. government. The former campaign manager’s trials are of severe importance to the development of American politics in the coming months.
Although Manafort’s trial is not directly related to the criminal investigation into Trump, the trial still showcased the way in which the special counsel would approach prosecuting a case of that magnitude. The trial will also likely serve as a counter-attack to Trump’s non-stop claims that the investigation has been “rigged.”
Directly after Manafort’s trial, Trump expressed pity for his former campaign manager. He repeatedly named the administrations for which Manafort had worked. Trump stressed that Manafort’s trial had nothing to do with Russian collusion or interference in the 2016 presidential elections.
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