Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday that he believes special counsel Robert Mueller is waiting for a verdict in the trial of Paul Manafort before resuming negotiations for a presidential interview.

"I think they're waiting for the Manafort case," Giuliani said on CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time."

Giuliani said they were not close to an agreement for Mueller to interview Trump and had not heard from him "in a week." He said his sense of the situation was that the stalled discussions were due to Manafort's ongoing trial in Virginia.

"I think they feel if they win, they're going to be empowered," Giuliani said, adding that "it doesn't have anything to do with us."

Manafort's defense rested on Tuesday without calling any witnesses, and closing arguments are set to begin Wednesday. Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, faces more than a dozen charges on financial crimes and has pleaded not guilty to every charge. He is also set for a trial in Washington, DC, for allegedly violating foreign lobbying rules.

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