Ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort's lawyers made a tactical decision on Tuesday to not call any witnesses in their client's defense. That may have surprised many people who are following the trial, but it is a strategy that happens "all the time" in criminal cases, according to defense attorneys. "It's not at all unusual," said Christopher Brennan, a former prosecutor in New York who now is a defense lawyer. He said the defense can sometimes accomplish more by cross-examining prosecution witnesses and poking holes in their testimony. Especially if the key witness lacks credibility. "If I thought I had scored major points against the key prosecution witness and [prosecutors] had a strong documents case ... I would have done exactly the same thing," Brennan said.

Manafort's lawyers might be justified for thinking just that Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, when they made it clear that neither Manafort nor anyone else would take the witness stand in his defense at his trial for alleged tax crimes and bank fraud. Asked outside court what he would say to people who believe that decision makes Manafort look guilty, Manafort's lawyer Kevin Downing replied, "This is the United States of America. You're presumed innocent until proven guilty. We believe the government cannot meet that burden." Days earlier, the defense team had subjected the prosecution's star witness, Rick Gates, to a withering cross-examination that hammered away at his embezzlement from Manafort's company, his extramarital affairs and his lying to authorities about his misconduct. Gates, who earlier pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements, testified as part of a plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller's office, in which he hopes to win leniency at sentencing. "If your defense is that the government's case is based on a liar like Gates, which they beat him over the head with eight ways to Sunday ... why does your client need to take the stand and say the same thing?" Brennan said.

Credibility issues