UPDATE 1-Ex-Trump aide Manafort's defense rests, case headed to jury

Defense attorneys for Paul Manafort rested their case on Tuesday without calling any witnesses or having the former Trump campaign chairman testify in the trial where he is accused of bank and tax fraud.

At the same time, the judge overseeing the trial rejected Manafort's motion to throw out the 18 charges against him.

Manafort, who has watched silently as the case against him was argued in federal court, was asked by Judge T.S. Ellis whether he wanted to testify in his own defense.

"No, sir," he replied.

Asked whether he was satisfied with the advice he'd gotten from his attorneys, Manafort said, "I am, your honor."

Ellis indicated that prosecutors and Manafort's lawyers would likely make closing arguments to the 12-person jury on Wednesday. After that, the jury will begin its deliberations behind closed doors.

Manafort's trial is the first courtroom test for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who indicted him in October 2017 as part of an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

Manafort is being tried on 18 counts, which include tax and bank fraud charges, as well the failure to disclose foreign bank accounts. If found guilty on all charges, he could face eight to 10 years in prison, according to sentencing expert Justin Paperny.

U.S. prosecutors on Monday rested their case against Manafort after 10 days of testimony alleging he evaded taxes and defrauded banks.

Manafort served as Donald Trump's campaign manager for several months in 2016, during the time the Republican accepted his party's nomination to run for president.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)