Generally, both prosecutors and defense during a trial can attempt to curtail the opposite sides' arguments by asking the judge to decide whether he will allow certain types of evidence to be presented to the jury. In his opening statement Tuesday, defense lawyer Tom Zehnle told the jury they should expect to hear how Manafort never faced a federal inquiry about his taxes, making it suspicious that prosecutors brought this case. Special counsel Robert Mueller's team, however, said in a court filing after midnight Thursday morning that the point about whether Manafort faced an inquiry about his taxes shouldn't matter. An IRS audit is a civil procedure and not part of the criminal inquiry, prosecutors say. Manafort is currently fighting in court charges of 18 financial crimes, including submitting false income tax returns to the IRS.

Source: CNN August 02, 2018 12:45 UTC