Thread by @Brandi_Buchman

The latest updates from the #ManafortTrial here. THREAD -
Judge T.S. Ellis III has said he will instruct jurors that they cannot find Manafort guilty for omissions made by his company since the indictment doesn’t name his entities but only him as an individual.

That information can be used, however, as evidence to determine Manafort’s intent or “willfulness” to omit information about the entities on his personal tax returns, Judge Ellis told attorneys after jurors were dismissed from the gallery.

Ellis will now consider the defense attorney’s motions to acquit following his decision to allow additional testimony from Paula Liss, a special agent with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Liss testified at an earlier point during trial but was questioned again Monday about whether Manafort’s companies reported foreign bank accounts on their tax records from 2011 to 2014.

Following a rapid line of questioning from prosecutor Greg Andres Monday, Liss told jurors Manafort’s companies had not.

During a procedural hearing, defense attorneys argued that the overarching charges brought against Manafort were invalid because they lacked “materiality” and failed to show “necessary willfulness.”

Ellis sealed the courtroom before offering any ruling on the defense’s motion to acquit but noted that what is discussed in secret Monday will eventually be revealed.
“When the case is over, the seal will be lifted,” Judge Ellis said.

Defense attorney Kevin Downing has requested until Tuesday morning to write his motion for acquittal. Ellis granted the request.
The motion to acquit hinges on details that defense attorney Thomas Zehnle said Monday would likely come up during their closing arguments.

Manafort, Zehnle argued during a separate procedural hearing without jurors present, had no obligation to report foreign bank accounts held by Davis Manafort InternationaL LLC since he only owned 50 percent of the company at the time.

Manafort’s wife, Kathleen, owned the other 50 percent of Davis Manafort International LLC from 2012 to 2014. The years at question in the government’s indictment cover 2011 to 2014 and prosecutor Uzo Asonye was quick to point out that Manafort was in fact the sole owner...

of Davis Manafort International for at least one of those years – 2011.
Asonye also emphasized that when Manafort filed as a foreign agent in 2017, he also listed himself as 100 percent owner of the entity.