Something’s going on with jury
It’s not uncommon for a cocky defendant to go into court thinking they can totally beat the charges, and they think that right up until they realize the prosecution has them dead to rights. Former AUSA Joyce Vance pointed out that some people don’t quite appreciate the gravity of the situation they’re in until they start to see the evidence and listen to the witnesses.
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There are many possible explanations, but the conference with the court security officer suggests we might see a juror replaced by an alternate juror this afternoon. Ditto the expanded jury admonition given.
(Or he could plead, or Putin might testify, or Buckaroo Banzai might show up with his Oscillation Overthruster.)
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Have you ever met an older gent who didn’t have a barrage of terrible jokes burning a hole in his pocket?
Death comes for us all. But first, Shame likes to make a pass.
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You shouldn’t talk about me that way… 
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Plea agreement negotiations underway?
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Judge Ellis sealed a transcript of a sidebar conversation.
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Starting to get worried. I’d love to believe that Manafort was working on a plea deal, but the Judge admonishing the Jury has got me worried that one of them has been tampered with. I would assume that in that type of situation, they would just replace the juror with an alternate, but I don’t know why this delay is taking so long?
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I have been wondering recently whether a juror has been bought off. After all, there are criminal organizations that Manafort was part of.
AND who is paying the legal bills for poor penniless Paul?
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That’s an easy one…Witness protection. I’ve thought all along that it’s his only play.
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Following up on Trump’s comparison of Manafort and Al Capone’s trials… The Capone jury was swapped at the last minute with another seated federal jury, exactly because of (likely well founded) jury tampering fears. That would be a sick burn here.
ETA: obviously not going to happen here since the trial is underway 
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Trial was supposed to resume 20 minutes ago.
And the judge – like many – runs his courtroom on time.
Wow.
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mistrial based on the judges actions/comments or something else?
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If it was jury-tampering, wouldn’t there be a noticeable law enforcement presence?
Has the trial started up again?
No. It was supposed to resume 30 minutes ago, at 1:45 PM EDT, I understand.
The lack of any reporting (here, WaPo, NYT) about this delay is also strange.
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Yes, that was mentioned in the story (typically great reporting by McSneed); nice to see the actual motion.
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Very curious. I guess we will know soon enough.
My hunch is that there is an extraordinary development.
43 minutes late and no announcement or explanation.
Boom?
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Court resumes
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