By Aruna Viswanatha 

*Judge in Manafort Fraud Case Says Jury Will Stay Until 6:15 P.M.

*Jury Asked to Stay Late to Continue Deliberations

*Jury Is Deliberating for Third Day

(More to Come....)

Previously....

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The federal jury deciding Paul Manafort's fate began its third day of deliberations Monday on the tax and bank fraud charges against President Trump's former campaign chairman.

The six men and six women of the jury heard two weeks of testimony in which prosecutors from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office alleged Mr. Manafort didn't pay taxes on at least $16 million in income he earned through political consulting work in Ukraine in the early 2010s.

The jurors also are weighing charges accusing the longtime political consultant of providing three U.S. banks misleading or false financial information to obtain more than $20 million in loans in 2016 and 2017. Mr. Manafort faces the possibility of more than a decade in prison if convicted.

Mr. Manafort, who worked on the Trump campaign between March and August of 2016, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. His lawyers argued that Mr. Manafort paid $8.3 million in taxes between 2005 and 2015, and had been open about his financial dealings, which they acknowledged were complicated arrangements because his clients were overseas.

Regardless of the outcome, Mr. Manafort is scheduled to face a second, related criminal trial next month in Washington, D.C., on charges of money laundering, conspiracy, acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, and other counts.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis said he wouldn't make juror names public, as several media organizations requested, citing safety concerns. He said he had received personal threats but didn't elaborate.

The judge also addressed a motion from media organizations that asked him to unseal transcripts of private discussions between the judge and lawyers. Judge Ellis previously had said he would make most of those transcripts public after the case concludes. On Friday, he repeated that promise.

Earlier Friday, Mr. Trump expressed support for Mr. Manafort. Speaking on the South Lawn of the White House, Mr. Trump said of the trial: "I think it's a sad day for our country."

Of Mr. Manafort, he said: "He happens to be a very good person. I think it's very sad what they have done to Paul Manafort."

Write to Aruna Viswanatha at Aruna.Viswanatha@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 20, 2018 17:12 ET (21:12 GMT)

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