U.S. Judge: Manafort, Gates pose ‘significant flight risks’

WASHINGTON — A federal judge said Monday that President Trump’s former campaign chairman and another senior campaign aide posed “significant flight risks” a week after they were indicted on charges of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy that emerged from the special counsel investigation.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson did not ease bail conditions for Paul Manafort and Richard Gates, who pleaded not guilty last week in the first criminal charges to stem from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into whether the Trump campaign actively conspired with Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Manafort, 68, and Gates, 45, are accused of a web of financial crimes unrelated to the campaign but which extended through the election year, according to the 12-count indictment.

“These are serious alleged offenses that would expose these defendants to significant penalties,” Berman Jackson said, explaining why she considered them potentially willing to flee to avoid a trial that she has scheduled for May 7.

Berman Jackson said she was inclined to keep in place strict restrictions on their movements, including a ban on international travel, restrictions on domestic travel without the court’s permission, a daily curfew and 24-hour-a day monitoring of their movements using satellite-linked ankle bracelets.

Both have been under house arrest since they surrendered to the FBI on Oct. 30. Bail was initially set at $10 million for Manafort and $5 million for Gates.

Manafort, a wealthy lobbyist and GOP power broker who served as Trump’s campaign chairman for several months, left the campaign after questionable payments for his lobbying work for a Kremlin-backed political party in Ukraine came to light. Gates stayed through the president’s inauguration.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys are discussing a less-restrictive bail proposal that they expect to present to the judge this week.

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