Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, has been sent to jail after a federal judge revoked his bail following new obstruction charges, according to The New York Times.
Manafort had previously been allowed to post a $10 million bond and remain at home while awaiting his September trial for charges that included money laundering and false statements. Last week, the Times reported special counsel Robert Mueller filed two new counts against Manafort for tampering with witnesses, arguing he violated the terms of his bail.
The new indictments accused Manafort and his business partner, Konstantin Kilimnik (who was also indicted), of contacting two witnesses in an effort to persuade them to testify that Manafort never lobbied in the United States for Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. The pro-Moscow president fled to Russia in 2014, the Times reported.
Manafort was initially indicted last October in Mueller’s investigation of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election. Manafort, along with his long-time associate Rick Gates “acted as unregistered agents of the government of the Ukraine,” for which they generated “tens of millions of dollars,” according to that initial indictment. “In order to hide Ukraine payments from United States authorities through approximately 2006 through at least 2016, Manafort and Gates laundered the money through scores of United States and foreign corporations, partnerships, and bank accounts.”
According to CNN, the indictment contains 12 counts: conspiracy against the U.S., conspiracy to launder money, an unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading statements related to the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. None of the charges related directly to the Trump campaign.
On Friday, Trump weighed in on the news on Twitter. “Wow, what a tough sentence for Paul Manafort, who has represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and many other top political people and campaigns. Didn’t know Manafort was the head of the Mob. What about Comey and Crooked Hillary and all of the others? Very unfair!”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1007679422865006593