Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has had his $10 million bail revoked following multiple attempts to gain a more lenient house arrest. Manafort is awaiting trial for foreign lobbying charges. Criminal proceedings against Manafort commenced Oct. 30 of last year, when former FBI director Robert Mueller issued an indictment against him for 12 counts including money laundering and foreign lobbying. Mueller slapped Manafort with yet another indictment June 8, adding two more charges to the preexisting allegations. Manafort has pled not guilty to all seven charges brought against him in D.C. federal court.
Though he was working hard to muster up that $10 million bail, Manafort has been sent to jail because of his refusal to comply with his house arrest. The former campaign chairman was caught inappropriately contacting witnesses via text messaging apps, and CNN reports he “called a potential witness on an Italian cell phone.”
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson revoked Manafort’s bail, saying, “This is not middle school. I can’t take his cell phone. I thought about this long and hard, Mr. Manafort. I have no appetite for this.” Manafort was led out of the courtroom and into a prisoner holding area immediately following Berman Jackson’s ruling. According to CNN, he gave his wife and supporters a “stilted wave” before exiting the room. A U.S. marshal later gave Manafort’s wallet, belt and burgundy tie to his wife, Kathleen.
“This hearing is not about politics, is not about conduct of the office of the special counsel,” Judge Jackson said during proceedings, taking care to acknowledge the case’s charged political implications. “The harm in this case is harm to the administration of justice and harm to the integrity of the court’s system,” she told Manafort.