Manafort Lawyer Says Prosecutors Failed to Prove Case; Defense Rests

Manafort Lawyer Says Prosecutors Failed to Prove Case; Defense Rests
Kevin Downing (C), lead attorney for Paul Manafort, is pursued by reporters after leaving the Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse during the eleventh day of Manafort's trial August 14, 2018 in Alexandria, Virginia. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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Attorneys for Paul Manafort rested their case on Aug. 14 without calling any witnesses, including the former Trump campaign chairman himself, who told the judge he didn’t want to testify in his own defense against bank- and tax-fraud charges.

Manafort lawyer Kevin Downing said Manafort’s legal team chose not to mount a defense because prosecutors hadn’t met the legal bar needed to prove their case.