Trump’s ex-campaign chief released to home confinement
WASHINGTON — Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, was released from prison Wednesday and granted confinement at his home in Northern Virginia because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Manafort had been in a minimum-security prison in Loretto, Pa., serving 71⁄2 years for financial and lobbying violations related to his work for a corrupt Ukrainian politician.
Prisons and jails across the country have been hot spots for the spread of the virus, though there were no recorded cases among inmates or staff at the Loretto facility where Manafort was held.
Attorney General William Barr ordered the Bureau of Prisons in April to determine which federal inmates could be safely released to home confinement. He directed the bureau to “give priority in implementing these new standards to the most vulnerable inmates and the most affected facilities.”
In mid-April, Manafort’s lawyers asked the Bureau of Prisons to release their client to home confinement. The lawyers said he was at high risk of contracting the virus because of his age, 71, and pre-existing health conditions including high blood pressure and liver disease.
The charges against Manafort stemmed from the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, but the cases didn’t involve his five months of political work for Trump.
Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, also was told last month that he’d be released to home confinement because of virus concerns.
He was expected to be home by May 1, but remains in quarantine in a medium-security prison in Otisville, N.Y., a person familiar with his situation said.
Cohen is serving three years for violating campaign finance laws in part related to a scheme to pay hush money to two women who said they had affairs with Trump. The president has denied the affairs and publicly criticized Cohen, who once said he would take a bullet for Trump.
Trump has praised Manafort publicly. After Manafort was convicted, he said his former campaign chairman “refused to ‘break’” under pressure from prosecutors, unlike Cohen.
“I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family,” Trump said at the time. “Such respect for a brave man!”