Prosecutors and defense attorneys will make their closing arguments Wednesday morning in the tax and bank fraud trial of Paul Manafort in Virginia federal court.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Eastern District of Virginia told lawyers in the courtroom, while jurors were not present, to try to reduce their closing arguments to one-and-a-half hours, rather than two hours. While Manafort's defense lawyers said they were fine with that, prosecutor Greg Andres said the United States requires time to map out the extensive case it's built.

The announcement of closing arguments came after Manafort's lead defense attorney, Kevin Downing, told the judge shortly before noon on Tuesday, “The defense rests, your honor.” Manafort's lawyers did not call any witnesses, whereas prosecutors called more than two dozen over 10 days.

For the first time in the trial, Manafort also spoke at the courtroom podium. “You have an absolute right to testify before this jury. You also have an absolute right to remain silent,” Ellis told Manafort. After a couple of questions, he asked Manafort if he wished to testify.

“No, sir,” Manafort replied.

The judge also said Tuesday that he would resolve an issue over a judicial notice, and hold an instructions conference on Tuesday, before Wednesday's proceeding. Earlier in the morning, he rejected the Manafort legal team's bid to stop the trial from moving to jurors.

The swift end came with some surprise Tuesday, and characteristic courtroom humor that's been on display during the trial.

Multiple reporters sprinted out of the courtroom after Downing rested the case.

“Does anyone else need to leave the room?” Ellis asked the court. After a few more people left, he added: “The answer was yes.”