Paul Manafort’s Lawyers Are Asking for a Full Acquittal

Paul Manafort’s lawyers asked a judge to acquit Manafort of all charges after prosecutors rested their case on Monday.

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.

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. (Read more from “Paul Manafort’s Lawyers Are Asking for a Full Acquittal” HERE)

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