*By Amanda Weston*
As a jury deliberates the guilt of President Trump's former campaign chair for the third day, GOP strategist Rick Wilson said Paul Manafort's chances don't look good.
"I think the judge in this case has been somewhat of a wildcard, but in the large picture here I think Manafort is facing something that federal prosecutors are pretty good at putting people behind bars for," Wilson, author of "Everything Trump Touches Dies," said Monday in an interview on Cheddar.
Manafort [faces more than a dozen charges](https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/20/politics/paul-manafort-trial/index.html), including tax evasion and the concealment of foreign bank accounts. He has pleaded not guilty.
Wilson said the real star of the proceedings is a "gigantic paper trail" that Manafort left behind. And it marks the first trial from Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia investigation.
"Manafort has always had a choice," said Wilson. "He can either flip and cooperate with Robert Mueller and cooperate with this investigation and do the right thing for his country, or he can die in prison. Right now, he's going to die in prison."
President Trump has repeatedly slammed the Mueller probe on Twitter, calling it [a "Rigged Witch Hunt!"](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1031154974942810114) on Sunday morning.
While Manafort's trial, the first in Mueller's investigation, may not be a defining moment for the overall probe, it's life-altering for the defendant.
"I view this, as I think most people do, as a point of leverage for Paul Manafort to get a wake-up call and to understand that unless he cooperates, he's going to die in jail," said Wilson. "Because he's not a young man, and he's going to go to prison at some point, and they've got a whole separate case, by the way, they can bring after this one. So the pressure on Paul Manafort isn't over. This isn't a make or break for the Mueller investigation at all."
For full interview [click here] ( https://cheddar.com/videos/manafort-jury-enters-third-day-of-deliberations).
President Joe Biden made his first public comments about his son Hunter Biden's plea deal with federal prosecutors on two misdemeanor tax charges. This follows several critical comments by Republicans, who blasted the agreement as a "sweetheart deal."
A federal judge struck down Arkansas' first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for children as unconstitutional Tuesday, the first ruling to overturn such a prohibition as a growing number of Republican-led states adopt similar restrictions.
Climate change is on trial in Montana. In a landmark case, 16 young people are suing the state over effects like smoke, heat, and drought. It's just the first in a series of cases intended to pressure lawmakers into taking action on the environment. Here with more is Cheddar News Senior Reporter Chloe Aiello.
President Joe Biden’s son Hunter will plead guilty to federal tax offenses and avoid prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the Justice Department that likely spares him time behind bars.
A White House official said First lady Jill Biden is hosting a roundtable conversation on Tuesday that will bring together women who have been denied medical care since the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year.
Former president Donald Trump told Fox News' Bret Baier said on Monday that he did not show classified documents to anyone else after his term.
President Joe Biden will convene a group of technology leaders on Tuesday to debate artificial intelligence.
More than 1 million people have been dropped from Medicaid in the past couple of months as some states moved swiftly to halt healthcare coverage following the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
Thousands of Iraqis, many of whom risked their lives by working closely with Americans during the war and its aftermath, are trying to enter the U.S.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said they agreed to “stabilize” badly deteriorated U.S.-China ties, but America’s top diplomat left Beijing with his biggest ask rebuffed: better communications between their militaries.
