The Paul Manafort trial verdict is coming “much, much sooner” than anyone was expecting
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s criminal trial against Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort just began yesterday. We’re already within sight of its ending, and what will very likely end up being a guilty verdict against Manafort. How do we know the trial is going to be finished so quickly? Just ask the judge in question.
Federal judge T.S. Ellis, who is presiding over the case, told the court today that “I’m hopeful that we can finish this case much, much sooner than anyone expected.” That’s not just wishful thinking on his part, as Mueller’s prosecution team responded by stating that they believe their case will wrap up as soon as next week. As Palmer Report explained yesterday, there is no indication that Manafort and his defense team are looking to slow down the proceedings. Based on the judge’s words today, it’s clear that he wouldn’t allow any slowdown antics even if they were tried. So where does this get us?
If the prosecution rests by next week, we’ll then see precisely how long the defense takes to make its case. Just before the trial started, legal experts told Palmer Report that a trial of this type could typically be completed within a month. Now that we know the judge is pushing for speed, and neither side appears to be fighting him on it, we’re now firmly looking at the prospect of this trial being finished before the current months of August is over.
So the reality is that we’re now likely just a few weeks away from Donald Trump’s campaign chairman being convicted on several felonies. This would serve to immediately bolster Robert Mueller’s standing for moving forward with the numerous other Trump-Russia related criminal cases he’s been building, including the case against Donald Trump himself.
