UNITED STATES—President Donald Trump’s former election campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, 69, was sent to jail on Friday, June 15, after his bail was revoked by U.S. Judge Amy Berman Jackson, as a result of new information from special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion in the 2016 Presidential Election against Russia. He was indicated in October 2017.
He was out on a $10 million bond, and on house arrest at his Virginia home, as he awaited his trial to begin on September 17, 2018. New charges Manafort face includes tampering with government witnesses and obstruction of justice, which transpired while he was on house arrest. He will be held at the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Virginia.
Manafort pleaded not guilty to the charges of witness tampering, but U.S. District Amy Berman Jackson revoked Manafort’s bail and sent him to jail as new evidence surfaced of Manafort using multiple messaging apps like WhatsApp to contact witnesses. He is currently in solitary confinement.
President Trump responded to Manafort’s jailing by tweeting, “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!”
According to reports, before Manafort was taken into custody, he turned around in the courtroom to wave goodbye to wife, Kathleen. Manafort is expected to face additional charges which include tax evasion, bank fraud, and failure to report foreign bank accounts in Virginia in July.
