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Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign chairman, found guilty on 8 counts in fraud trial

Click to play video: 'Manafort found guilty on eight of 18 charges; his lawyer says he is ‘evaluating all his options’'
Manafort found guilty on eight of 18 charges; his lawyer says he is ‘evaluating all his options’
WATCH: Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on Tuesday on eight charges of tax and bank fraud and failing to disclose foreign bank accounts, after a jury said it could not reach consensus on the other 10 charges against him. – Aug 21, 2018

The jury in the financial fraud trial of Paul Manafort has found the former Trump campaign chairman guilty on eight counts of bank and tax fraud out of a total of 18 after four days of deliberations. A mistrial will be declared on the remaining 10 counts.

U.S. President Donald Trump commented on the trial on his way to a rally in West Virginia.

“I feel very badly for Paul Manafort. It has nothing to do with me. Nothing to do with Russia collusion,” the president said.

After deliberating for several days, however, the jury of six men and six women told the judge that they had failed to reach a decision on 10 of the 18 criminal counts Manafort faces in the first trial stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the role of Russia in the 2016 U.S. election.

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The jury delivered the note to Judge T.S. Ellis III on Tuesday afternoon, following a note delivered earlier in the day, which read: “If we cannot come to a consensus on any count, what does it mean for the final verdict.” The jurors also said they would need to fill out a new verdict form.

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Prosecutors claim Manafort hid tens of millions of dollars in foreign income that he had earned in Ukraine and lied on loan applications to obtain millions more. His attorneys called no witnesses and argued that prosecutors failed to meet their burden of proof.

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The jury said Tuesday morning that it was stuck on at least one of the 18 counts against Manafort, though they did not mention on which charges they were at a standstill. Ellis encouraged them to continue deliberating.

The trial is the first to come out of Mueller’s probe, though the case does not involve allegations of Russian election interference.

Ellis has not yet set a sentencing date and has given prosecutors until August 29 to decide whether to retry Manafort on deadlocked charges.

WATCH: Senators issue warnings to Trump on pardons for Paul Manafort

Click to play video: 'Senators issue warnings to Trump on pardons for Paul Manafort'
Senators issue warnings to Trump on pardons for Paul Manafort

U.S. Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned President Donald Trump on Tuesday against pardoning his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.

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“Any attempt by the President to pardon Mr. Manafort or interfere in the investigation into his campaign would be a gross abuse of power and require immediate action by Congress,” Warner, whose committee has been investigating Russia and the 2016 U.S. election campaign, said in a statement.

During a press conference given following the verdict, Manafort’s attorney told reporters that while the former Trump aide was disappointed in the verdict, his client was evaluating all his options.

–With files from the Associated Press and Reuters. 

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