Jury selection got underway Tuesday in Paul Manafort’s tax fraud trial with lawyers inching closer to empaneling a full jury. President Trump’s former campaign chairman wore a dark suit and sported noticeably grayer hair as he sat next to his attorneys and jotted down notes during voir dire. His wife Kathleen sat in the front row of the packed courtroom in Alexandria, Va. Federal Judge T.S. Ellis spent the morning cracking jokes with some 50 potential jurors as he questioned them over their impartiality. “It’s important that you understand at the outset the defendant has pleaded not guilty,” he reminded the pool after summarizing the charges Manafort is facing. The judge grilled nine potential jurors who said they had some connection to the federal government or Department of Justice, asking a series of repetitive questions over whether they could serve fairly. One potential juror was starting to answer when Ellis cut her off, cracking, “I know I’m predictable. My wife says that’s one of my only virtues,” drawing laughter from the crowd. Sixteen jurors will be selected, four of which will be alternates. Ellis said he expects a full panel will be chosen before the 1 p.m. lunch break — with opening statements likely afterward. “We’ll take a brief recess if some of you need to use the restroom. I need to,” he said before a brief 10-minute break. Manafort — who’s been cooling his heels in jail since last month, when a judge revoked his bail amid accusations of witness tampering — was transported to court early Tuesday morning. He was greeted by about a half-dozen protesters toting anti-Trump signs. One held up a poster of Manafort’s mug shot with the caption, “I like your new suit.” The 69-year-old is accused of hiding tens of millions of dollars from consulting work he did for a pro-Russia political party in the Ukraine and blowing the tax-free cash on pricey real estate and other lavish expenses. Manafort’s co-defendant and former right-hand man Rick Gates has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors. He is expected to testify against Manafort.<doc-sep>A jury of six men and six women was selected Tuesday for the federal criminal trial of former Trump presidential campaign chief Paul Manafort slightly less than four hours after it began. Opening arguments in the case were scheduled to begin later Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., after the jury, along with three female alternates and one male alternate, receive instructions in their duties by the trial judge. Jury selection began Tuesday morning after Manafort, 69, was brought to court from a jail where he is being held without bail on charges lodged by special counsel Robert Mueller related to the money he made consulting for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine from 2005 to 2014. The longtime Republican lobbyist — who is accused of multiple counts of bank fraud and tax crimes that could send him to prison for decades if he is convicted — traded his jailhouse jumpsuit for a black suit, white dress shirt and silver tie before he walked into the dimly lit courtroom. He has pleaded not guilty in the case. Prosecutors and defense lawyers had in total 20 "strikes" that they could use to eliminate potential jurors from the pool of 65 or so who were questioned by both sides and Judge T.S. Ellis III on Tuesday. They used nearly all of those strikes in a series of rounds, during which Ellis became noticeably impatient with how long each side was taking to decide whom to eliminate. "Let''s expedite this now," Ellis urged the lawyers at one point.<doc-sep>Prosecutors preparing witnesses for the upcoming trial of President Donald Trump’s one-time campaign chairman Paul J. Manafort are advising them to avoid mentioning Trump’s name, ABC News has learned. The case against Manafort, brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the Eastern District of Virginia, is focused solely on allegations that the former Trump adviser had committed a range of financial crimes, from tax evasion to bank fraud, that have no direct tie to his campaign work. Manafort has pleaded not guilty. The guidance to witnesses comes in response to an order from United States District Judge T.S. Ellis III, who agreed with Manafort’s defense team that invoking the defendant’s ties to the Trump campaign could unduly influence jurors. The panel will be picked from residents of the Democratic-leaning Northern Virginia suburbs, which voted heavily against Trump in 2016. Jury selection is scheduled to start Tuesday. Solomon L. Wisenberg, a veteran criminal defense attorney not associated with Manafort's defense, believes prosecutors are complying in hopes of derailing any attempt by Manafort’s defense team to argue that they are using politics to prejudice the jury. "The defense doesn’t want to be prejudiced by association with Trump," Wisenberg opined. "With a northern Virginia jury, they know they may not be kindly disposed to the president." Veteran criminal defense attorney Shanlon Wu, who is also not associated with the Manafort defense team, tells ABC that in his opinion the government’s strategy is more focused at this point on avoiding any do-overs. "Mueller’s team is trying to keep it pristine with the judge. They are more worried about protecting the trial from having a mistrial or having it overturned on appeal than provoking a hold-out person over Trump," Wu theorized. The Mueller team laid out tight restrictions for witnesses in recent days, according to two sources familiar with those conversations. Witnesses have been told to avoid any mention of President Trump or anything related to his 2016 campaign. One potential witness was even told to be cautious when speaking of Manafort’s New York residence – he owns a condominium in Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan, sources told ABC News. The witness was told to say nothing about where the condo is located. Last week, Ellis issued a series of guidelines for topics that would be off limits during the Manafort trial. That included an order that the prosecution not use the term "collusion" or mention "Russians" during the trial. Prosecutor Greg Andres readily agreed, telling the court, "We don’t intend to mention alleged collusion with the Russians," and saying that only "a very small portion of the trial" will mention collusion -- but only insofar as it relates to the government’s claim of a quid-pro-quo relationship in which Manafort received bank loans allegedly in exchange for a Trump campaign position for a former bank chairman. Those in the jury pool were required to fill out questionnaires that will help narrow down who could fairly and impartially sit in judgment of Manafort. Manafort, who was wearing a dark blue suit in place of his jail outfit, was watching in the courtroom nearby as jurors were handed the proper forms. The results of the questionnaires were placed under seal, with copies being given to both sides for use in the jury selection process this week.<doc-sep>
Jury selection begins for President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, in his trial Tuesday on a litany of charges from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Manafort, previously a powerful Washington lobbyist for decades, faces a 32-count indictment in the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria with some of the charges carrying as many as 30 years in prison. Manafort has denied any wrongdoing. Five others have entered plea agreements with Mueller's team, including Manafort's former business and lobbying partner Rick Gates. The trial is the very first brought by Mueller's team while Trump accuses the investigation of being a "witch hunt." Manafort was originally out on bail, but in June was sent to jail following allegations of witness tampering. Appearing before Judge T.S. Ellis, the trial will first begin at 9 a.m. local time with a conference. Each side is still wrangling with Ellis over what evidence can be admitted. Then, at 10 a.m., the jury selection process will start. Here is a summary of the charges against Manafort. Filing and Assisting in False Income Tax Returns Manafort is facing five counts of filing false income tax returns. In total, prosecutors claim that starting in 2006 and until the present day, Manafort laundered more than $30 million and failed to report the income to the federal government. Some of the funds were generated for Manafort and Gates's work for a former president of Ukraine and his political party. Some of the alleged ways Manafort laundered the money included the buying of expensive suits, cars and furnishings. Failing to File to Disclose Foreign Bank Accounts As part of the alleged tax scheme, Manafort and Gates also opened bank accounts in Cyprus, the Seychelles and the Grenadines and "hid the existence and ownership of the foreign companies and bank accounts, falsely and repeatedly reporting to their tax preparers and to the United States that they had no foreign bank accounts," according to the indictment. Mueller's team claims over $75 million went through the foreign accounts. Bank Fraud and Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud Manafort, with Gates's help, is also accused of buying up and improving real estate with the use of loans from banks and other financial institutions. With work in Ukraine now gone, Manafort and Gates "obtained millions of dollars in mortgages on….properties," which allowed Manafort "the benefits of liquid income without paying taxes on it," the indictment reads. Furthermore, both Manafort and Gates are accused of lying to the banks about their amount of debt and Manafort's use of the loan funds.