WASHINGTON, U.S. - Closing nearly two weeks of a dramatic criminal trial on Tuesday morning, without presenting any evidence of witnesses, attorneys of former Trump campaign chairman, Paul Manafort announced that they were resting their case. 

The decision by the defense came on the 11th day of the criminal trial, that has witnessed testimony prompted by prosecutors from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office.

In what became the first trial to emerge from Mueller - who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to tilt the race in Trump's favor - prosecutors used the first week to map out all the charges against Manafort and followed that up with testimonies from some of Manafort's closest financial associates, including his longtime bookkeeper and accountants. 

While Manafort is the defendant in two criminal indictments brought by Mueller, the indictment that is at the center of the current trial was brought in the Eastern District of Virginia and charges Manafort with tax fraud, bank fraud, and failure to report foreign bank accounts. 

Prosecutors allege that Manafort hid at least $16 million in income from the IRS between 2010 and 2014 and disguised the millions he made from his work for a Russia-friendly Ukrainian political party as loans, hiding it in foreign banks. 

They further allege that after his money in Ukraine dried up, Manafort defrauded banks by lying about his income on loan applications and concealing other financial information, such as mortgages.

Witnesses presented by the prosecution have depicted Manafort as splurging millions of dollars hidden in offshore accounts to fund a luxurious lifestyle and have also testified about how the former Trump campaign chairman obtained millions in bank loans, under false pretenses. 

Meanwhile, a large part of the efforts made by the defense have focused on the explosive testimony by political operative and Manafort’s former business partner, Rick Gates.

Manafort’s codefendant, Gates, struck a plea deal with prosecutors in February this year, after pleading guilty to lying to investigators and to a conspiracy charge.

After agreeing to cooperate with investigators earlier this year, Gates was presented as Mueller’s star witness in this trial and testified that he and Manafort committed financial crimes together for years. 

However, defense attorneys sought to undermine his testimony by calling Gates a liar, philanderer and embezzler.

Overall, Manafort is facing 18 counts, including five of tax fraud, four of failing to report foreign bank and financial accounts and nine counts of bank fraud and bank fraud conspiracy.

In a February court filing, federal prosecutors said that based on the level of the offense and his criminal history, Manafort could face up to ten years in prison for tax fraud alone.

On Tuesday, Judge T.S. Ellis denied a defense motion to toss out four of the charges, including two counts of tax fraud and two counts of bank fraud, that were related to a loan application Manafort submitted to the Federal Savings Bank.

The motion was filed by the defense, which argued that evidence presented by prosecutors was “insufficient to sustain conviction” because the government “failed to prove the required element of materiality for these charges.”

Subsequently, Manafort’s lead attorney, Kevin Downing, told Judge Ellis that the defense was resting without presenting any evidence.

Upon being questioned by the judge, Manafort spoke for the first time in court, declining to testify on his own behalf.

Following this, Judge Ellis said he was giving both the prosecution and the defense some instructions for the jury before the trial broke for lunch.

Now, both the sides are expected to work out possible objections before making their closing arguments, expected to take place on Wednesday.

While exiting the courthouse,Downing told reporters, "Mr. Manafort just rested his case. He did so because he and his legal team believe that the government has not meant it's burden of proof." 

According to some defense attorneys, Manafort's lawyers made a tactical decision on Tuesday, pointing out that the strategy is used "all the time" in criminal cases.

Christopher Brennan, a former prosecutor in New York City who now is a defense lawyer opined, "It's not at all unusual. If I thought I had scored major points against the key prosecution witness and [prosecutors] had a strong documents case ... I would have done exactly the same thing.”

He added, “If your defense is that the government's case is based on a liar like Gates, which they beat him over the head with eight ways to Sunday... why does your client need to take the stand and say the same thing?"

Meanwhile, another defense lawyer in New York, Gerald Lefcourt pointed out, "The obvious strategy is to blame Gates for everything and argue his credibility which clearly took a big hit on cross. If Manafort testifies he shifts the jury's attention from Gates' credibility to his own credibility. That's a real problem because the person who's got the most to gain by fabricating is the defendant."