ALEXANDRIA, Va. —The federal judge presiding over Paul Manafort’s trial told lawyers Friday he is “optimistic” the case might conclude soon.
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis’s remarks came as the 12-member jury began their second day of deliberations in Manafort’s bank and tax fraud trial.
The trial has stretched into its third week, during which prosecutors presented to the jury 27 witnesses and more than 380 pieces of evidence.
Manafort’s defense team rested its case this week and chose not to call any witnesses to the stand.
Jurors deliberated for roughly six hours Thursday and submitted four questions to Ellis before recessing for the day. They asked Ellis to redefine “reasonable doubt” and to define “shelf company,” as well as clarify the requirements for filing a foreign bank report.
[Also read: Paul Manafort trial: Jury ends first day with no verdict, asks judge 4 questions]
On Friday, Ellis addressed request from a coalition of media organizations to provide access to parts of Manafort’s case that have been sealed.
They also called for an expedited hearing regarding their motion, which Ellis granted. He said a hearing on the matter would likely take place Friday afternoon.
“I don’t at all question or resent … the thirst of the press to get this information,” Ellis said. “A thirsty press is essential to a free country.”
The judge suggested lawyers for Manafort and prosecutors on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team be present for the afternoon’s hearing.
The media coalition of Politico, the Associated Press, CNN, BuzzFeed, NBC, the Washington Post, and The New York Times are asking the court to make public the names and addresses of the 12 jurors and four alternates.
They also want access to a sealed motion filed Sunday and the responses to that motion, and the sealed portions of a bench conference that took place during the testimony of Rick Gates, Manafort’s former business associate.
Ellis granted a request to keep private a portion of the discussion with Manafort’s lawyers and federal prosecutors after the government argued it would “reveal substantive evidence pertaining to an ongoing criminal investigation.”
In his order, Ellis said that portion of the bench conference would remain sealed until the “relevant aspect of the investigation” is made public.
The line of questioning that prompted the sidebar discussion was not identified in documents filed by federal prosecutors, but attorneys huddled with Ellis after Manafort’s attorney asked Gates whether he was interviewed by Mueller’s team about his time working with the Trump campaign.
Ellis noted most sealed material would be available to the public after the trial ends, with one exception.
