Last Tuesday, Robert Mueller sought to give immunity to five potential witnesses in the Paul Manafort trial according to a court filing.
Mueller filed the requests under seal; Manafort is facing charges of bank and tax fraud and his trial begins Wednesday in the Eastern District of Virginia.
In a ruling Monday, Judge T.S. Ellis, a Reagan appointee ordered Mueller to publicly name the five witnesses who got immunity–a huge blow to the Special Counsel.
The identities of the five witnesses were revealed Monday and Judge Ellis delayed Manafort’s trial until July 31st.
WaPo reported:
A federal judge in Alexandria has delayed the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort until July 31st.
Defense attorney Kevin Downing had argued that the trial, which was previously set to begin Wednesday, comes as his team is still struggling with tens of thousands of documents only recently provided by prosecutors.
“There are equities and good reasons on both sides,” Judge T.S. Ellis III said.
Ellis also approved and unsealed motions to compel five witnesses against Manafort to testify at trial: James Brennan, Conor O’Brien, Donna Duggan, Cindy Laporta, Dennis Raico.
Dennis Raico was previously affiliated with Federal Savings Bank (FSB), a small Chicago bank that provided Manafort with $16 million in loans shortly after Manafort left the Trump campaign, reported Talking Points Memo.
Fox News’ Tucker Carlson announced last Thursday evening that two separate sources confirmed to him Mueller offered Tony Podesta immunity, however; Podesta was not named in the unsealed documents Monday.
Manafort is being charged with failing to file a FARA form for his pro-Ukrainian lobbying efforts and other bank fraud and tax fraud charges.
None of the charges against Manafort have anything to do with ‘Russian collusion’ during the 2016 presidential election.
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