Federal prosecutors had until today to decide if they were going to retry Paul Manafort on the 10 counts of tax and bank fraud for which a Virginia jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision.
One holdout caused Judge Ellis to have to declare a mistrial on those charges.
But the government now wants extra time to consider its next move, citing the defense team's failure to do its part.
"Because the defendant’s post-trial motions have not been filed or ruled on, 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," the prosecutors said in their request to Judge T.S. Ellis III on Wednesday.
The government's decision was originally due Wednesday, but prosecutors are now asking for that deadline to be extended to one week after the court has ruled on the defendant’s post-trial motions.
In their three-page request, prosecutors noted that Manafort’s defense attorneys asked Ellis — following the jury's decision to convict their client on eight counts of tax and bank fraud — for an extra 30 days to file their motion for acquittal or appeal. Court rules typically allow 14 days.
Mueller team asks for more time on remaining counts in first Manafort trial (The Hill)