The federal prosecutors handling the fraud case against Paul Manafort spent two weeks laying out their case before the jury. But when it comes to their lunch orders, they remain decidedly mum.
Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, is facing 18 charges of financial crimes after being indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller earlier this year. The jury has been deliberating since Thursday morning — and while reporters await any word from the jury room, they're scrambling for any news at all about the high-profile case.
But Mueller's team has proven to be quite taciturn, The New York Times reports, going so far as to withhold comment about their lunch orders. The Times explains that because the federal lawyers, reporters, and Manafort's defense team are all housed within close quarters in Alexandria, Virginia, where the trial is being held, reporters often encounter the prosecutors on the street or in the hotel lobby. Lead prosecutor Greg Andres was spotted awaiting a delivery from Shake Shack in the entrance area of the local Westin hotel — but when reporters asked Andres later whether he had actually received an order from the burger chain, "he laughed, then paused," the Times says. Finally, his answer: "I can't say."
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Another day, Mueller lawyer Uzo Asonye entered an elevator with a colleague — only to abruptly cut her off, as there was a reporter already inside. Asonye "turned to the reporter with a smile," the Times reports, and said, "Sorry, I can't talk to you."
Reporters have caught glimpses of the Mueller team's snack table, noting the presence of "Life Savers and orange-colored Starbust candy," so perhaps the lawyers' reticence is due to the fact that they have bad taste in sweets. Read more at The New York Times.
