What to Know After Latest Hearing in Paul Manafort's Criminal Case
Sidley Austin partner Tom Green made his first appearance after reports said he was working with Gates.
February 14, 2018 at 01:13 PM
4 minute read
Paul Manafort, right, leaves the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, with his attorney, Kevin Downing, left. Photo Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi / ALM
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates were in court again Wednesday, but the months old case appears no closer to trial.
Manafort and Gates both pleaded not guilty to a 12-count indictment last year. Their case remains in the pretrial phase, as squabbles over bail conditions, representation and discovery bog down the criminal case brought by the special counsel, Robert Mueller.
Wednesday's hearing was held in two parts, with the first half-open to the public and the second held under seal. Here's what happened:
Tom Green's first appearance: Questions remain about Gates' representation after his lawyers filed a motion to withdraw earlier this month. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District of Columbia has yet to rule on that following last week's sealed hearing. But Sidley Austin partner Tom Green, who CNN reported last month joined Gates' legal team, made his first appearance at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C.
Green sat in the audience during the public part of the hearing, and was seen afterward talking with Gates privately. He declined to comment, but he accompanied Gates when re-entering the courtroom for the nonpublic part of the hearing with his current lawyers, Shanlon Wu, Walter Mack and Annemarie McAvoy.
The judge also said Gates had filed a motion under seal Tuesday night, pro se, that asked her to delay ruling on his lawyers' motion to dismiss for a week.
Still no trial date: The judge has yet to set a trial date in the case, though she said Wednesday that the delay in setting a date was “unacceptable.” She said that though the defendants face serious allegations, “we have spent a lot of time focused on anything but.”
She said the court's time has been spent on “minutia” related to bond, public relations problems and other issues tied to the lawyers. She said a trial date should be set by the next status conference, though it's unclear if one will occur before the motions hearing currently set for April 17.
Transparency concerns: Jackson admonished lawyers in the courtroom for repeatedly filing motions under seal that she said could be public, such as motions to modify bond conditions and Gates' pro se motion Tuesday.
“The fact that this case is of significant public interest is not a reason to seal things, it is a reason to unseal things,” the judge said.
She noted that some categories of information should be filed under seal, such as documents relating to attorney-client privilege or private financial information. Still, the judge said she thought “people are overdoing it just a little bit.”
She ordered that Gates' pro se motion be unsealed, and ordered the government to file by Friday a redacted version of its response to a motion by Manafort to modify his release conditions.
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