By: Lisa M. Hayes
A federal judge on Friday ordered former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to jail to await separate trials on money laundering and fraud charges following allegations that he sought to obstruct the Russia inquiry while he was on house arrest.
Manafort, who served as Trump’s campaign manager, was charged last week along with Russian business associate Konstantin Kilimnik as part of an alleged scheme to tamper with two witnesses in the existing cases against Manafort.
Prosecutors asserted that that the alleged obstruction effort, in which Manafort and Kilimnik sought to coach the testimony of the two un-identified witnesses, should trigger the revocation of Manafort’s bail, sending him to jail to await a July trial in Alexandria, Va., on bank fraud charges and a separate September trial in Washington, D.C., where he faces a vast money laundering and fraud conspiracy.
Investigators have claimed that the “repeated” contacts occurred while Manafort was under house arrest in Virginia, as a condition of his release. A judge agreed. Witness tampering is a thing that should never happen, especially when you are out on bail.
It is quite possible Manafort will never see the light of day again. With hundreds of years of potential jail time ahead of him, Paul Manafort has of yet to cut a deal with the Special Prosecutor. At this point, Mueller may not offer Manafort a deal even if he wanted one.
