(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (Associated Press) 
 
 Television cameras are set outside of federal court as the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort continues, in Alexandria, Va., Monday, Aug. 13, 2018. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo Manafort Trial Manafort trial Day 11: Defense rests without calling witnesses 
 
 Paul Manafort’s defense rested Tuesday without calling any witnesses — including Manafort himself — a decision that sends the tax- and bank-fraud trial into its final stages. The decision not to have Manafort testify came after Judge T.S. Manafort's lawyer, Kevin Downing, rested his case Tuesday morning. Ellis III rejected a defense motion to dismiss the government's case on the theory that it failed to meet its burden of proof. Another mysterious delay 
 
 The Manafort lawyer's announcement that they would call no witnesses followed an unexplained two-hour delay Tuesday morning as lawyers and the judge apparently haggled behind the scenes over an unspecified defense motion.
– Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Wednesday morning in the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, per the AP. US District Judge TS Ellis III made the announcement after Manafort rested his case without calling witnesses or presenting evidence. Asked by Ellis whether he wished to testify in his defense, Manafort responded: "No, sir." (The exchange marked Manafort's first words during the trial, notes Politico.) The decision came after a more than two-hour hearing that was closed from the public. The judge has not given any explanation for the sealed proceeding, only noting that a transcript of it would become public after Manafort's case concludes. Prosecutors have spent more than two weeks presenting evidence they say shows how Manafort hid millions of dollars in offshore accounts from the IRS. They also say he later defrauded banks. The decision not to have Manafort testify came after Ellis rejected a defense motion to dismiss the government's case on the theory that it failed to meet its burden of proof. Specifically, Manafort is accused of hiding millions of dollars in income he received advising Ukrainian politicians. The defense has tried to blame Manafort's financial mistakes on his former assistant, Richard Gates.