Manafort jury sends note asking to leave early

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) – The jury in former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s fraud trial has submitted a note to the court asking to stop deliberations half an hour early Friday. Normally they leave at 5:30 p.m., but the note asked to leave at 5 p.m. The judge read the note aloud in court.

The jury deliberated for a second day Friday. On Thursday, the jury ended its first day of deliberations with a series of questions to the judge, including a request to “redefine” reasonable doubt.

Manafort is accused of hiding from the IRS millions that he made advising Russia-backed politicians in Ukraine, and then lying to banks to get loans when the money dried up. He faces 18 felony counts on tax evasion and bank fraud.