U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she plans to conduct individual questioning of potential jurors in the jury room with lawyers from special counsel Robert Mueller's office, the defense team and the defendant present. | Alex Wong/Getty Images Judge pushes back start of Manafort's next trial U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson also plans to kick press out during jury selection.

A judge has ordered a brief delay in former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's upcoming trial, pushing off by a few days the opening arguments set for next month.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Tuesday that the arguments by both sides will take place on Sept. 24, but she kept in place the existing Sept. 17 date to begin jury selection.


Jackson granted the brief delay after defense lawyers, who just finished representing Manafort at a separate trial in Alexandria, Virginia, last week, complained they didn't have adequate time to prepare for the next case in Washington.

"None of this gets everybody everything they're seeking ... but I think it will alleviate some of the pressure," the judge said near the end of a two-hour hearing discussing arrangements for the trial.

At the end of the hearing, Manafort attorney Richard Westling told the court his teams plans to file a motion Thursday seeking a change of venue in the case, which was brought by special counsel Robert Mueller.

"Where do you want to go?" Jackson asked.

"I don't know that I have the answer to that yet, judge," Westling replied. "It may be that there is no place."

Jackson sounded skeptical about the suggestion to move the trial. "I believe that the overwhelming majority of the publicity is national," she said.

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The judge said she believed it was likely that an impartial jury could be found in Washington, although she said earlier in the hearing that finding jurors who can fairly consider the case may be more challenging than it was at Manafort's Virginia trial. Last week, the jury there convicted Manafort on eight counts involving false tax returns, failing to report foreign bank accounts, and bank fraud. Jurors split 11-1 on 10 other counts.

In the Washington case, Manafort faces charges of failing to register as a foreign agent, money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Jury selection in the Virginia case was completed in one morning, but Jackson said that given the media attention to the prior trial and the jury pool for the new case likely involving more people involved with politics, at least a couple of days will likely be required to seat a jury.

"I believe it may take you longer than a day to pick a jury," she said. "The combination of the pretrial publicity and the length of the trial is going to make it [more] difficult to pick a jury."

Prosecutors have said they expect to take 10 to 12 trial days to present their case. The defense has said its response could take three or four days, if it decides to call witnesses at all.

Jackson also announced plans to exclude the press and public from jury selection. She said she intends to conduct individual questioning of potential jurors in the jury room with prosecutors from Mueller's office, the defense team and the defendant present.

However, the public and media will be kicked out of the courtroom during the process, with the court's seating occupied by members of the jury pool.

Jackson acknowledged that the arrangement could amount to a "partial closure" of the trial, but said it was justified due to media attention to the case, juror privacy concerns and worries that members of the press, public and legal teams might have contact with the jurors.

Before the Alexandria trial, Manafort's defense filed a motion seeking to move that case to Richmond or Roanoke. The judge in that case denied the request.

Much of Tuesday morning's court session consisted of a back-and-forth over details of a questionnaire to be distributed to potential jurors.

Jackson suggested that jurors be told that figures involved in the case were involved in the Trump campaign. She suggested that if potential jurors had a strong reaction to that, the court and lawyers should know in advance.

Westling said Manafort's team agreed with the court, but prosecutors said they were concerned that the questioning could overemphasize the very limited way in which the Trump campaign is likely to be brought up, if at all.

The defense has asked to bar any mention of Manafort's role in the Trump campaign. Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said his side didn't intend to raise the issue, but it might come up as part of an explanation why the Justice Department's unit responsible for Foreign Agent Registration Act enforcement scrutinized Manafort in 2016. "It was as a result of news articles about Mr. Manafort" relating to his role in the campaign, Weissmann said.

Westling said Trump campaign-related issues could arise if prosecutors reprise their actions in the Virginia case and call as a witness former Manafort aide Rick Gates, who took a plea deal in February and agreed to cooperate with Mueller's team. The defense attorney noted that it was revealed in Gates' earlier testimony that he'd admitted to pilfering funds from Trump's inaugural committee. That issue could well arise again, Westling said.

Jackson largely acquiesced in a questionnaire proposed by prosecutors and the defense that is far more detailed than the one used in the Virginia case, and includes broad questions about prospective jurors' media habits and involvement with politics. The defense also wanted jurors to be asked whether they voted in 2016 — a request the prosecution objected to and Jackson expressed concerns about.

"It tells you a lot about your larger appetite for things political," Westling said. "We're not asking who they voted for or what your vote was."

"There are other offices to vote for other than just president on that day, I believe," the judge replied.

Prosecutor Jeannie Rhee said the "mere fact of voting" wouldn't provide any useful information to qualify or disqualify a potential juror. Rhee has been with Mueller's office for more than a year but recently signed onto the second Manafort case. She and Weissmann are expected to handle the D.C. trial, along with prosecutor Greg Andres, who led the prosecution team in Virginia.

Jackson seemed to agree with the prosecution on the voting question, calling the proposed inquiry "invasive" without any real benefit.

At the Virginia trial, Judge T.S. Ellis III repeatedly clashed with the prosecution, sharply limiting questioning and evidence admitted in the case. He also made remarks that seemed to undercut the government's case.

At the D.C. trial, the defense team seems more likely to be the focus of the judge's ire. Jackson and Manafort's lead defense counsel, Kevin Downing, have had a series of prickly interactions at pretrial hearings. That pattern continued Tuesday.

During a conference at the judge's bench at the outset of the hearing, Downing at one point turned away and looked irritated. The exchange, only partially audible, appeared to stem from the judge's request that the defense state any objections to exhibits in advance of the trial. Downing could be seen noting that the prosecution's 1,500-item exhibit list would make that a daunting task.

Later in the hearing, after Weissmann said prosecutors would be giving the defense "way more" advance notice than the law requires about potentially damaging information on prosecution witnesses, Downing jumped to his feet.

"Is that 'way more' time to be prepared" for the trial to start? the defense lawyer asked sharply.

"All right, Mr. Downing," the judge interjected. "We don't need to be smug. We don't need to be cute."

Jackson ordered the prosecution to turn over the witness-related information by Sept. 4, but in a message apparently aimed at Downing, warned against animated reactions to her rulings once the trial gets underway.

"There are people who are very expressive in this courtroom," the judge said. "That is not going to happen when there is a jury in the jury box."