Federal prosecutors for special counsel Robert Mueller are asking for more time to decide whether to retry Paul Manafort in Alexandria, Va.
The former Trump campaign chairman was convicted last week on eight of the 18 bank and tax fraud charges brought against him by Mueller’s team — and the federal judge overseeing the case declared a mistrial on the other ten.
Prosecutors had until the end of Wednesday to declare their intent — or not — to retry Manafort.
Mueller’s team wants to wait until Manafort’s defense team files their post-trial motions on the eight guilty counts before they make a decision.
“Because the defendant’s post-trial motions have not been filed or ruled on, the government does not at this time have sufficient information to make an informed decision on whether it will seek retrial of the remaining counts,” prosecutors wrote, asking the deadline to be extended to one week after the court rules on Manafort’s post-trial motions.
Manafort’s attorneys do not object to the special counsel’s motion, federal prosecutors said.
Jury selection in the Manafort trial in Washington is set to begin Sept. 17, with opening arguments slated for Sept. 24.
[Related: Prosecutors project its case in next Manafort trial could wrap in as little as two weeks]
There, he faces charges of money laundering, failing to register as a foreign agent, and obstruction of justice also brought against him by Mueller.
Manafort, 69, has pleaded not guilty in Washington. The judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, revoked Manafort’s bond in July for witness tampering, and he is currently behind bars in Alexandria.
Manafort’s attorneys on Wednesday asked for a relocation of the Washington trial to Roanoke, Va., due to “unrelenting news coverage.”
The judge in the Alexandria case previously dismissed a similar motion to move to Roanoke.
