Page 10 - Paper Case News Today

Brian Williams examines the days top political stories and current political-campaign news.

So it usually takes place outside the courtroom where the jurors cant catch a glimpse of it. >> but no ostrich coat, right? >> no. a pretty standard business suit. probably more expensive handle the my suit but i doubt it is one of the special $10,000 or $15,000 numbers that he was wearing in new york. >> lucky for us, a brand new msnbc contributor. thank you. were lucky to have you. joining me, joyce vance, thank you for being here. im struck by what josh was talking about. the entire manafort ...

Joining us former u.s. attorney joyce vance. thank you for being with me, joyce. take me through what stuck out for you. im struck by some of what josh was talking about, that the entire manafort defense is blame that guy, my deputy. that doesnt seem like a solid legal strategy to me. >> just from the evidence that weve seen publicly it looks like the government has a very good case here. as you noted, its a paper case. that means the government will largely rely on paperwork, many pieces of pap...

Fact that theyre going to go after the star witness. >> well, yes, they are. because what else are they going to do? in prosecutorial circles all around the country, this would be referred to as the sodi defense. some other dude did it. thats sort of the shorthand. they dont have much to do. and the problem for them is its a paper case. and manaforts signature is all over things, and its not -- probably not going to work. it doesnt usually work, and i would doubt it works in this case. >> sam, i...

To find people that havent heard about the case, that havent already formed some strong opinions about this case, so this may take a few days. it may take into the second week. i think we could expect to see this jury selection may go on for a little while. >> isnt it kind of true that until the u.s. presents its case and were under way, thats not really -- thats the time when well know how this is going to progress, what do they have, how do they plan to lay it out. >> absolutely. i think the m...

It? its a paper case. >> exactly. and you know, i think theyre doing the exact same thing the prosecutors do across the country every time they have a criminal case. it is the unglamorous work of sitting in rooms and marking kpikts a exhibits and making sure you have your paperwork and in a case like this, which is a heavy paper case, theyre going to be going through those things with a fine tooth comb. >> i have to ask you about the last bit of drama up until we begin tomorrow, i guess up until...

And so for a defense lawyer, there are only a number of techniques that you can use. its this guy and this guy is a proven liar. okay, thats -- you know, thats an issue. its a challenge for a prosecutor. he is a proven liar. i didnt realize what was going on. the suite of defenses when a reasonably clear cut case like this is pretty limited. >> i hadnt put that together. their whole defense is to discredit a witness. its not a witness case, its a paper case. weve been saying it, it might be more...

This? >> i think in this case it may be challenging to get a jury. it will be hard to find people who havent heard about the case or havent had strong opinions. this may take a few days and into the second week. i think we can expect to see the selection going on for a little while. >> isnt it kind of true that until the u.s. presents its case and we are underway that is not really -- that is the time when we know how this will progress. >> absolutely. i think the minute we hear the prosecutors ...

The sofa, youre talking about somebody with $60 million of income and didnt declare it. as they conduct the investigation, i think mueller is sitting here saying i followed the money and i had no option but to say it wasnt an insignificant amount. manafort was wildly in violation of the law. >> whats peculiar is even at this late stage, it is unclear what manaforts defense is at the trial. remember, rick gates who is with him every step of the way is going to be testifying that the whole thing w...

Present. a lot of this case is a paper case and the witnesses are going to be backing up those documents and there are other witnesses who are very close to him, his former business partner. >> rick gates. >> rick gates, and so, i mean, at some point its going to have to don on him, this is not a winning strategy that he has. i think its a very tough case for him to win. >> the reason i wanted to have you on is, you wrote a letter to secretary of homeland security, kirstjen nielsen, about the se...