© 2024 Blaze Media LLC. All rights reserved.
One single juror reportedly prevented Paul Manafort from being found guilty on all charges
One of the jurors in Paul Manafort's trial revealed that Manafort would have been convicted on all 18 counts, and not just eight, if it had not been for one holdout juror. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

One single juror reportedly prevented Paul Manafort from being found guilty on all charges

One of the jurors from Paul Manafort's trial revealed that if it had not been for a single holdout juror, Manafort would have been found guilty on all 18 counts on which he was indicted, instead of just eight.

What about the holdout juror?

The juror, Paula Duncan, revealed her identity and went on Fox News to discuss the case. Duncan said that although she was personally a big supporter of President Donald Trump, she thought that the evidence against Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager, was overwhelming.

Duncan said that the remaining juror felt that she had reasonable doubt.

"We didn't want it [the jury] to be hung, so we tried for an extended period of time to convince her," she said. "But, in the end, she held out, and that's why we had 10 counts that did not get a verdict."

Duncan also confirmed that one of the other jurors was behind sending the note to the judge asking for the definition of reasonable doubt and that the note was directly related to the holdout juror.

"Most of us did not want that out there, but one of the jurors did," she said. "So, we felt a little foolish, actually, sending it."

Although Judge T.S. Ellis had kept the jurors' names sealed out of fear for their personal safety, Duncan said that she's not worried about coming forward.

"I don't feel a threat. I am an American, I'm a citizen, I feel I did my civic duty, I don't think I need to hide behind anything," she told Fox News. "I'm not afraid at all, and I thought that the public, America, needed to know how close this was, and that the evidence was overwhelming. I did not want Paul Manafort to be guilty, but he was and no one's above the law."

Duncan also said that she did not think that any of the jurors let their pro- or anti-Trump biases influence their final decision.

Why was Manafort on trial again?

Manafort was indicted on 18 felony counts. He was convicted of eight, which included five counts of filing false tax returns, two counts of bank fraud, and one count of not filing a required IRS form.

These charges against Manafort came to light during the course of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the possibility that members of Trump's team colluded with Russians. However, the charges themselves were not related to Russia or the Trump campaign.

Manfort still faces another separate federal trial in September in Washington, D.C.

Want to leave a tip?

We answer to you. Help keep our content free of advertisers and big tech censorship by leaving a tip today.
Want to join the conversation?
Already a subscriber?