Politics briefly
Jurors in the Paul Manafort trial ended their third day of deliberations Monday without reaching a verdict on 18 counts of bank and tax fraud against President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. They will return to court Tuesday morning after weighing the evidence for more than eight hours. Jurors had no notes on Monday and have given no indication of how close they are to a verdict.
First Lady Melania Trump is planning her first big solo international swing with a trip through several African countries in October. "This will be my first time traveling to Africa and I am excited to educate myself on the issues facing children throughout the continent, while also learning about its rich culture and history," the first lady said in a statement. She added that she plans to use the trip to highlight the humanitarian work and development programs underway in many African countries.
President Trump referred to lawyers working for special counsel Robert Mueller as "thugs" and accused them of trying to affect this year's elections, further ramping up his rhetoric against prosecutors. In Monday morning tweets, Trump called Mueller "disgraced and discredited" and said his team of prosecutors is "a National Disgrace!" The tweets are the latest in a spate of complaints in recent days from the president about a probe into whether his campaign coordinated with Russia during the 2016 election and whether Trump has sought to obstruct the investigation.
Steve Bannon has a dire warning for Republicans — rally around the president. During an interview with the Associated Press, the former chief strategist to Trump said he believes the GOP would lose 35 to 40 House seats if the election were held today, thereby ceding its majority to Democrats he's convinced will pursue impeachment. He argued there's still time to turn that around and is launching a group, Citizens of the American Republic, to pitch the election as a vote to protect Trump from impeachment.
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