An unsmiling jury settled in for its fourth day of deliberations at the Paul Manafort trial Tuesday, making a perfunctory appearance in the courtroom before retiring to a nearby space filled with the nearly 400 exhibits introduced in the 18-count tax- and bank-fraud case against the former Trump campaign chairman.
Manafort entered the Alexandria, Virginia, courtroom in the company of federal marshals shortly before 9:30 a.m., sharply dressed in a gray suit, light blue shirt and blue-pattern tie, but with his hair a bit tousled.
Jurors extended their deliberations Monday past 6 p.m., but quit for the night without announcing any verdicts.
The lead prosecutor on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, Greg Andres, was on hand Tuesday after his absence Monday morning drew the notice of U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III.
Before the court session began, Andres— whose facial expressions in court often seem pained — shared a rare laugh with Manafort defense attorney Kevin Downing.
The jury was in court Tuesday for less than five minutes. As jurors filed in, most took seats towards the judge’s end of the jury box, consolidating themselves as they did for the first time Monday. However, on Tuesday, one juror left a seat vacant between him and his nearest colleague.
A clerk took the roll and Ellis made his usual inquiry about whether jurors had avoided any discussion or investigation of the case overnight. All indicated they had. The judge omitted his typical statement that the jury could deliberate for as little or as long as it liked, but simply the group off to resume their deliberations.
There has been no substantive message from jurors since their first day of deliberation, when they sent four questions to the judge, most of which he rebuffed.
Manafort’s wife Kathleen was in court again Tuesday morning. The veteran political consultant blew a kiss to his wife as he entered and seemed to pay her a compliment as he was escorted out.
Several of Paul Manafort’s attorneys did not immediately depart the courthouse after the morning session. Instead, they went to a holding cell on the building’s first floor to meet their client for about 20 minutes before heading to a hotel across the street to await a verdict.
After the brief court session, prosecutors dropped by the courthouse’s small second-floor cafe for coffee, before slipping through a nearby door that leads to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.