U.S. judge allows five Manafort trial witnesses to testify in exchange for immunity

Reuters
FILE PHOTO: Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort arrives for arraignment on a third superseding indictment against him by Special Counsel Robert Mueller on charges of witness tampering, at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S. June 15, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge said he would rule later on Monday over whether to delay the criminal trial of U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and that he planned to make public the identity of five witnesses who had been granted immunity to testify. Judge T.S. Ellis III, at a hearing in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, also said the U.S. Special Counsel's Office must provide a list of about 30 witnesses to lawyers for Manafort, who request a delay of several months for his trial this week on bank and tax fraud charges. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Writing by Susan Heavey; edting by Grant McCool)