Manafort asks court to limit evidence in his fraud trial
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort filed four motions Monday night asking a federal judge to prevent special counsel prosecutors from bringing forward some evidence and arguments during his fraud trial.
First, Manafort's lawyers want to stop the government from presenting evidence about whether Manafort or the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government. They argue that what he has been charged with had no connection to his work for Donald Trump's presidential campaign. And they worry that jurors "will be unable to separate their opinions and beliefs about those matters from the charges to be tried before them in this case."
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Further, Manafort believes the court should preclude the special counsel from bringing up evidence or arguments connected to the charges in the Eastern District of Virginia case, where his trial is to begin on July 25.
Manafort's legal team also wants the the government not to be able to use his detention before trial to suggest he's guilty of the obstruction of justice charges against him for witness tampering. Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled in June that Manafort had violated his pre-trial release terms by attempting to contact witnesses by phone and through the encrypted messaging program WhatsApp. His attorneys argue that "at least some jurors in this case will be likely to view Mr. Manafort as someone who is already in jail because he violated the law and that, therefore, it is more likely that he is guilty of the charges against him in this case."
Lastly, Manafort asks the court to stop his Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) attorney, Melissa Laurenza, from testifying, saying that their conversations are covered by attorney-client privilege. Prosecutors for the special counsel announced at a hearing in May that they would be calling on Laurenza to testify. Laurenza, one of Manafort's lawyers, communicated false statements to the Justice Department about Manafort's compliance with FARA. This filing says that Laurenza was subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury, but Manafort then asserted his attorney client privilege. As a result, Laurenza refused to comply with the subpoena. Special counsel prosecutors have said that she is not considered a co-conspirator in the case.
However, Chief Judge Howell ordered that the "crime fraud exception" applied in this matter, forcing Laurenza to comply. According to the crime fraud exception, "past criminal or fraudulent conduct" can be revealed to attorneys in total confidentiality, "but ongoing or intended future crime will not be protected," according to Jurist.org. There is no transcript of Laurenza's special counsel interview because the she was interviewed outside of the grand jury. Lawyers for Manafort argue that the lack of a record of this interview leaves the defense ill-prepared to mount a proper counter argument at trial.
A similar motion was filed in the Virginia case, however that version did not include Laurenza.