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Manafort Juror: One Holdout Blocked Conviction on All 18 Counts

Says “Trump and his son-in-law” were featured in evidence, but jury ignored Russia investigation.

President Trump’s former campaign Chairman Paul Manafort was spared a guilty verdict on all 18 counts by one holdout juror, a member of the jury said late Wednesday. In an interview with Fox News, juror Paula Duncan, who identified herself as a Trump supporter, said she went into the trial wanting Manafort not to be guilty, “but he was and no one’s above the law.” The 12-member jury convicted Manafort on eight felony counts but would have issued a guilty plea on all 18 if not for a single juror who resisted, citing “reasonable doubts,” according to Duncan. Manafort was found guilty on five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and one of failing to report a foreign bank account. While Duncan said “references to Trump and his son-in-law” were featured in the evidence, she did not believe that the Russia investigation influenced the jurors.