Dozens of people have waited in line each day to sit through hours of what has at times been dense testimony on bank and tax records in the criminal trial against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort — and it’s not because they had to.
Manafort’s trial has attracted a large number of spectators who have come out of a pure curiosity to watch the proceedings play out live before their eyes.
While some observers have undoubtedly been local, others have come from New York City, the Eastern Shore of Virginia and the Midwest.
{mosads}Jill Williams-Hall, who is from Pennsylvania but works a few days a week in D.C., said she took the day off from work to attend Tuesday’s proceedings just to see “a piece of history.”
“We don’t do exciting things like this in Pennsylvania,” she said.
About 100 people each day slide into one of 19 wooden benches divvied up into three sections in the ninth floor courtroom, securing a prized spot to see an ever-graying Manafort take his seat at the defense table.
Those who don’t get there early enough can watch the trial from a closed-circuit TV in a courtroom on the sixth floor. Some observers have said they actually like that room better because there they can freely comment on the case as it unfolds. The cameras also show close ups of Manafort and the witnesses.
Facial expressions, gestures and other nonverbal cues have significantly added to the courtroom drama. Judge T.S. Ellis III, who is presiding over the proceedings in the Alexandria courthouse, scolded attorneys during the first week for rolling their eyes after leaving the bench.
“Rein in your facial expressions,” he ordered. “It’s inappropriate.”
Some of the court’s most crowded days came last week when the prosecution’s star witness Richard Gates was called to the stand to testify against his former boss and mentor.
Manafort stared at his longtime aide over the three days of testimony, but Gates did not return his gaze.
The trial, which has been moving along at a break neck speed, experienced a delay on Friday and again Tuesday as attorneys argued over sealed motions.
Colleen Fahey of Minneapolis, Chelsea Carver of Denver and Denise Fleckenstein of Detroit, were lined up behind 50 to 60 other people hoping to get a glimpse ofTuesday’s proceedings.
The women, who work for an international nonprofit headquartered in Alexandria, were hoping to at least catch part of the trial before attending meetings — the true purpose of their trip to the area.
“It’s history,” Fahey said. “We’re right here. We’d be crazy not to try to get in.”
The women said they don’t support Trump nor were they drawn to the trial because Manafort worked for his campaign.
But others, like Deborah Klaus, said Manafort’s affiliation with Trump is the whole reason she has attended nearly every day of the trial.
“This was Trump’s campaign manager. Are you kidding me?” she said.
Manafort faces 18 criminal counts of tax and bank fraud.
Prosecutors are trying to convince the 12-member jury that he stashed income earned as a political consultant in Ukraine to avoid paying taxes, and that he filed false documents to obtain bank loans when the money dried up.
Richard Banke, a deputy clerk for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, said there have been crowds at the courthouse before, but it’s not typical.
“In this court we’ve had some cases where we’ve had to have an overflow room, so it’s not completely out of the norm, but it’s not an everyday occurance,” he said.
Other cases that have gained outside attention include the trial against former Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson, who was convicted in 2009 of accepting thousands of dollars in bribes — some of which was found in a freezer.
In 2006, a jury in the courtroom convicted al Qaeda terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui to life in prison for his role in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, CNN reported at the time.
Spectators, who had expected the trial to resume at 9:30 a.m., grew impatient as the hours passed Tuesday with no word on how long it would take for Ellis to reopen the court to the public. About 11:30 a.m. Fahey, Carver and Fleckenstein threw in the towel.
Not even five minutes after they left, the courtroom doors opened.