UPDATE: Day 10 exhibits entered into evidence are here.
Prosecutors rested their case Monday after having called 27 witnesses over 10 days of trial. The defense has not indicated yet whether it will call anyone to the stand or whether Paul Manafort will testify on his own behalf.
The defense, however, will ask for an acquittal.
The judge is expected to hear full arguments on Tuesday, but Manafort's lawyers gave a brief preview late in the day, before the judge closed the courtroom for arguments on a sealed matter also related to Manafort's case.
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Manafort is charged with bank fraud, filing false tax returns that underreported his income by millions of dollars, and failing to report numerous foreign bank accounts he controlled overseas. His lawyers argued Monday that the government failed to show banks relied on the allegedly false information that prosecutors say Manafort provided to prospective lenders.
And the defense generally contends prosecutors failed to show that Manafort acted with the required "willfulness" when it came to the tax and foreign bank account reporting charges.
The motion from Manafort's lawyers will give US District Judge T.S. Ellis III an opportunity to consider the government's evidence before it goes to the jury, although he can defer a decision until after the jury deliberates. Under the rules that govern criminal cases in the federal courts, judges can acquit a defendant if they find the evidence is insufficient.''
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The strength of the government's evidence about Manafort's dealings with Federal Savings Bank has already come up in nonpublic discussions between the judge and the lawyers. According to a brief filed Monday morning by prosecutors, Ellis "expressed concern" last week during a sidebar conference at the bench about how the bank could be defrauded if its CEO Stephen Calk planned to approve the loans regardless of what Manafort submitted.
CNN:
Prior to the prosecution resting, a bank official testified that the Federal Savings Bank gave Manafort $16 million in loans and knew that he lied about his financial situation before they were approved by the bank's chairman.
James Brennan, a vice president of Federal Savings Bank, said he faced so much pressure from his bank's chairman about Manafort's ability to borrow the $16 million that he lied on a form reviewed by federal regulators and the bank's directors about the stability of the loan.
"If I had my recommendation ... the loan would not be made," Brennan said in court Monday.
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"It closed because [bank founder Stephen] Calk wanted it to close," Brennan said, referring to one of the loans.
Last week, the jury heard testimony that Calk approved the loans as he sought Manafort's help in getting a high-ranking position in the Trump administration.
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In all, the bank lost $11.8 million on the loans it made to Manafort, Brennan said.
The prosecution granted Brennan immunity in exchange for his testimony.
An email between bank employees presented Monday showed financial details Manafort provided to the bank were “red flags” and inconsistent, Brennan said. Manafort had declared more than $4 million in income for his business DMP International, but other documents showed he had no income and expenses of more than $630,000. Manafort also had an outstanding American Express credit card bill of more than $300,000, causing bank employees to question whether Manafort could pay back loans if he were approved.
“Although Mr. Manafort’s credit is for the most part good, the large size of the delinquency is troubling,” the email said.
Manafort later told bank officials he let his “friend” borrow the credit card to purchase season tickets with the New York Yankees and had not yet been paid back. Manafort later indicated that friend was his business partner Rick Gates, but on Friday a Yankees executive said Gates has never purchased season tickets with the team.
2:55 p.m.: Defense suggests Manafort didn’t fill out loan applications, and terms of loan (7.25% interest) weren’t great
Defense attorneys for Paul Manafort are again trying to argue that their client either wasn’t the one who filled out documents inaccurately when applying for loans or else did not know he had done anything wrong.
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During cross-examination of Federal Savings Bank vice president Jim Brennan, defense attorney Richard Westling raised the possibility that the bank may have been at fault for errors that affected Manafort’s loans.
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Brennan concluded his testimony shortly before 4 p.m.
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5:01 p.m.: Special counsel’s final witness is return of Treasury agent
Judge T.S. Ellis III allowed prosecutors to call back Paula Liss, a special agent with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The special counsel confirmed that she would be their last witness.
Prosecutors intend to ask Liss if Paul Manafort’s consulting firm ever reported foreign bank accounts. Ellis said he would instruct the jury that they cannot find Manafort guilty for his company’s failures, but that they can use the evidence to decide his “willfulness” in not reporting 32 overseas accounts on his personal tax returns.
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5:04 p.m.: The prosecution rests after recalling Treasury agent as final witness
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Liss left the stand after five questions.
“Your honor, the government rests,” prosecutor Greg Andres said.
Afterward, defense attorneys, in a procedural hearing, asked that the charges against Manafort be dismissed, saying the evidence lacks “materiality” and “a failure to show the necessary willfulness.”
Judge T.S. Ellis III sealed the courtroom without ruling on the defendant’s motion for acquittal or asking whether Manafort will present any evidence.
“What we do will not be permanently sealed,” he told media and onlookers gathered in the courtroom. “When the case is over, the seal will be lifted.”
Lead defense attorney Kevin Downing asked to have until tomorrow morning to put together his motion for acquittal, and Ellis agreed.
Paul Manafort trial Day 10: Special counsel’s office calls its final witness in fraud case (WaPo)
Prosecution rests in Paul Manafort trial (CNN)
Paul Manafort's Lawyers Are Asking For A Full Acquittal After The Government Rested Its Case (BuzzFeed News)