Weighing in as a Virginia jury deliberated for a second day, US President Donald Trump on Friday called the bank and tax fraud trial of his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort “very sad” and described the defendant as a “very good person.”
Manafort’s trial in federal court in Alexandria is the first stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s 15-month-old investigation of Russia’s role in the 2016 US election.
US District Judge T.S. Ellis, presiding over the case, said he personally had received threats related to the trial and was being protected by US marshals. The judge also refused to make public the names of the jurors, saying he was concerned about their “peace and safety.”
“I had no idea this case would excite these emotions … I don’t feel right if I release their names,” the judge said.
In remarks to reporters at the White House, Trump again called Mueller’s investigation, which had cast a cloud over his presidency, a “rigged witch hunt,” but sidestepped a question about whether he would issue a presidential pardon for Manafort.
“I think the whole Manafort trial is very sad, when you look at what’s going on there. I think it’s a very sad day for our country,”…
