US judge delays setting trial date for Trump's ex-aide Manafort

In this Nov. 6, 2017 photo, Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, leaves the federal courthouse in Washington. Manafort has sued special counsel Robert Mueller saying he exceeded authority in the Russia probe. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

In this Nov. 6, 2017 photo, Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, leaves the federal courthouse in Washington. Manafort has sued special counsel Robert Mueller saying he exceeded authority in the Russia probe. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Published Jan 16, 2018

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Washington - A federal judge on Tuesday

delayed setting a trial date for President Donald Trump's former

campaign manager Paul Manafort, who faces charges stemming from

the special counsel's probe of allegations of Russian

interference in the U.S. presidential election.

Defense lawyers said the government has still not yet

produced all of the evidence it has gathered, and they need more

time to pore through it and file the necessary motions.

The government had sought for a May start to the trial. But

Judge Amy Berman Jackson said at Tuesday's hearing in the U.S.

District Court for the District of Columbia that a trial for

Manafort and his business partner Richard Gates might not start

until the fall of 2018.

"We have limited resources," Manafort's attorney Kevin

Downing said Tuesday. "We're not big law firms."

Manafort and Gates face charges that include failing to

register as foreign agents for political work they did for a

pro-Russia Ukrainian political party, as well as conspiracy to

launder money and conspiracy against the United States.

Federal prosecutors said Tuesday they expect they will need

at least three weeks to present their case to a jury. This will

ensure continuing news coverage of the probe by Special Counsel

Robert Mueller, which the Trump administration has repeatedly

sought to discredit.

Trump has denied there was any collusion and Russia has

denied meddling in the election.

Manafort, for his part, has also adamantly denied any

wrongdoing.

Earlier this month, his lawyers took the unusual step of

filing a civil lawsuit against Mueller, Deputy Attorney General

Rod Rosenstein and the Justice Department, accusing them of

legal overreach. The suit asks that the indictment

be dismissed because it alleges conduct that falls outside the

bounds of what Mueller is permitted to investigate.

Prosecutors said Tuesday they intend to file a motion by

Feb. 2 to have that civil case dismissed on the grounds that the

issues it raises should be addressed in the criminal case.

Meanwhile, the judge gave Manafort and Gates until Feb. 23

to file motions that seek to address alleged defects in the

criminal case.

The next status conference in the case will occur on Feb.

14. 

Reuters

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