Paul Manafort trial gets off to a quick start as jury is seated


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Alexandria: The bank and tax fraud trial of Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, got off to a quick start on Tuesday as the judge seated a jury and told prosecutors and defence lawyers to prepare to deliver opening statements.


Paul Manafort, left, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, walks with this wife Kathleen Manafort, as they arrive at the Alexandria Federal Courthouse in March.

Paul Manafort, left, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, walks with this wife Kathleen Manafort, as they arrive at the Alexandria Federal Courthouse in March.


Photo: AP

Manafort, 69, is the first American charged in the inquiry by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, to maintain his innocence, and to force the prosecutors to prove their case at trial. Dressed in a black suit with a silver tie, he consulted frequently with his five defence lawyers over which jurors to strike, donning glasses to pore over his notes.


Setting a fast pace for a complicated trial, Judge T.S. Ellis III of the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, repeatedly urged lawyers for both sides to speed up their decision-making so the jury could be seated.


By midday, a jury of six women and six men, with four alternates, was in place. Ellis said the trial would move immediately to opening statements after a lunch recess.


The charges against Manafort are not related to Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election or to attempts by Russian emissaries to make inroads into the Trump campaign, which Manafort led for three months before he was forced out because of allegations about his work for pro-Russian interests in Ukraine.


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