U.S. judge keeps bail conditions for ex-Trump campaign aide Manafort

[webfact]

U.S. judge keeps bail conditions for ex-Trump campaign aide Manafort

By Sarah N. Lynch

 

Paul Manafort, former campaign manager for U.S. President Donald Trump, departs after a bond hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., November 6, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. district judge again declined to ease bail conditions for President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort and his business associate Richard Gates on Monday, saying they still needed to provide more financial information.

 

Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she was concerned about some of the $12 million (9.11 million pounds) in assets that Manafort had offered as security to get the court to lift house arrest and allow him to stop wearing an electronic monitoring device.

 

Manafort and Gates have pleaded not guilty to a 12-count indictment as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and potential collusion with Trump associates.

 

They are charged with conspiring to launder money, conspiracy against the United States and failing to register as foreign agents of Ukraine’s former pro-Russian government.

 

Jackson said she was especially worried about life insurance policies Manafort had offered as part of an effort to secure better bail conditions.

 

The policies, valued at about $4.5 million are held in trust and in his wife's name. But having a relative serving as a surety, or a guarantor of the policy, Jackson said, "is very problematic." Anyone serving in this capacity needs to provide details about their assets and liabilities, she said.

 

Life insurance policies held in trust tend to have many restrictions and can also be subject to asset forfeiture in the case of a conviction, the judge said.

 

"A lot of these details need to be nailed down" she said.

 

MANAFORT PROPERTIES

 

Prosecutors also say they are not yet satisfied they have enough details on how to value Manafort's properties, including a condo he has in Trump Tower, the president's signature building in New York.

 

Manafort, a longtime Republican operative, ran Trump's presidential campaign for several months last year.

 

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied meddling in the election. Trump has denied collusion between his associates and Russia, calling the investigations a witch hunt.

 

The judge last week also denied requests from Manafort and Gates for an easing of their bail conditions.

 

Jackson did grant a request from Gates to be allowed to leave his Virginia home on Tuesday to vote.

 

On Monday, the judge said she is not very likely to grant any requests for the freedom to travel internationally and is inclined to require the pair to stay in the Washington area for work, unless such trips are cleared in advance.

 

Currently, Manafort has promised to pay $10 million and Gates $5 million if they fail to appear for future court appearances.

 

Manafort is seeking permission to travel to New York where he has clients, as well as Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where his attorney Kevin Downing said he has a telecommunications business involving secure and "virtually indestructible" cell phones.

 

A spokesman for Manafort could not immediately provide details on the business when asked by Reuters on Monday.

 

The judge also held off on setting a future trial date, and ordered the parties to return for a status hearing on Dec. 11.

 

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Alistair Bell and James Dalgleish)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-11-07

[rudi49jr]

Good. Manafort had three passports. Who needs three passports? I’m guessing he has at least one emergency passport still stashed away somewhere (plus a couple million dollars) and he will use it and disappear out of the country the minute he gets out on bail. I mean, the guy can get sentenced to 80 years in jail, so who knows what he will do.

[Scott]

2 hours ago, rudi49jr said:

Good. Manafort had three passports. Who needs three passports? I’m guessing he has at least one emergency passport still stashed away somewhere (plus a couple million dollars) and he will use it and disappear out of the country the minute he gets out on bail. I mean, the guy can get sentenced to 80 years in jail, so who knows what he will do.

People who have a need for more than one passport often have additional ones.   For example, sometimes one passport is at an embassy being processed for a visa and the other passport is being used for travel.  

 

 

[ilostmypassword]

35 minutes ago, Scott said:

People who have a need for more than one passport often have additional ones.   For example, sometimes one passport is at an embassy being processed for a visa and the other passport is being used for travel.  

 

 

Can you legally do that? I guess it might make sense to have 2 if one was a temporary passport while the other was being processed. But three from one nation?

[Scott]

Yes, I believe it is.   I am not sure what the laws are now, but years ago, I worked with a director for an international organization and he had two passports.   I am sure the average Joe can't get two, but permission is given to people who may have a special need for more than one.

 

I would think that if any of those were not legal that would have been a whole separate issue and would have been brought to the attention of the Court.   

[ilostmypassword]

4 minutes ago, Scott said:

Yes, I believe it is.   I am not sure what the laws are now, but years ago, I worked with a director for an international organization and he had two passports.   I am sure the average Joe can't get two, but permission is given to people who may have a special need for more than one.

 

I would think that if any of those were not legal that would have been a whole separate issue and would have been brought to the attention of the Court.   

Might one or more of those passports been issued by another country?

[Scott]

11 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Might one or more of those passports been issued by another country?

It could have been .   It doesn't really say, but I suspect that at least two were US passports, but that's only a guess.   I am not sure if the US can force someone to forfeit a foreign passport.  

 

Interesting point though.

[hawker9000]

So everyone's all agape just over the fact that this guy had 3 passports??  THAT'S your gripe with him?  Seriously?

 

'But has as much to do with the purpose of Mueller's investigation as the actual charges against him.  Mueller is simply using the time-tested prosecutor tactic of the threat of serious prison time for entirely unrelated offenses to squeeze the nice juicy fabrication out of him against Trump that's he's after.   Most people will say anything to escape up to 115 years in the slammer.

Edited November 7, 2017 by hawker9000

[ilostmypassword]

2 hours ago, hawker9000 said:

So everyone's all agape just over the fact that this guy had 3 passports??  THAT'S your gripe with him?  Seriously?

 

'But has as much to do with the purpose of Mueller's investigation as the actual charges against him.  Mueller is simply using the time-tested prosecutor tactic of the threat of serious prison time for entirely unrelated offenses to squeeze the nice juicy fabrication out of him against Trump that's he's after.   Most people will say anything to escape up to 115 years in the slammer.

It looks like it's the judge that had a gripe with him.

[IAMHERE]

I am hardly anybody but I had two back in the early 90's. One was a US brown diplomatic passport and the other a regular tourist Passport. The brown one was to get me out of town fast if the Ruskies came (I was a US government worker working in West Germany) thru the Fulda Gap. I bet there are other 'special' type passports the US government issues; too secret for ordinary folk to know about.

 

[ilostmypassword]

17 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

I am hardly anybody but I had two back in the early 90's. One was a US brown diplomatic passport and the other a regular tourist Passport. The brown one was to get me out of town fast if the Ruskies came (I was a US government worker working in West Germany) thru the Fulda Gap. I bet there are other 'special' type passports the US government issues; too secret for ordinary folk to know about.

 

My God. This could mean that Paul Manafort was actually working for Obama!

[Langsuan Man]

27 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

I am hardly anybody but I had two back in the early 90's. One was a US brown diplomatic passport and the other a regular tourist Passport. The brown one was to get me out of town fast if the Ruskies came (I was a US government worker working in West Germany) thru the Fulda Gap. I bet there are other 'special' type passports the US government issues; too secret for ordinary folk to know about.

 

If it was brown it was an Official passport, not a Diplomatic passport, which are and have always been black 

 

And Yes,  the US Department of State will issue more than one tourist passport if you have a good reason.  In the past  one good reason was for travel to Israel, since an Israeli stamp invalidated a passport in many Arab countries, so the State Department would issue a second passport that could be used just for Israel stamps.  But like currency,  no two passports have the same number   

[ilostmypassword]

8 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

If it was brown it was an Official passport, not a Diplomatic passport, which are and have always been black 

 

And Yes,  the US Department of State will issue more than one tourist passport if you have a good reason.  In the past  one good reason was for travel to Israel, since an Israeli stamp invalidated a passport in many Arab countries, so the State Department would issue a second passport that could be used just for Israel stamps.  But like currency,  no two passports have the same number   

So I guess that means that against all the odds Manafort wasn't working for Obama. So disappointing.

[hawker9000]

2 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

So I guess that means that against all the odds Manafort wasn't working for Obama. So disappointing.

He was working - and committing crimes - for himself, failing to declare himself as a Russian "agent" (the highly paid advocate kind, not the 007 kind...) IAW U.S. law and for laundering large sums of money.  'For himself and not for anybody else.  Period.

 

[ilostmypassword]

1 hour ago, hawker9000 said:

He was working - and committing crimes - for himself, failing to declare himself as a Russian "agent" (the highly paid advocate kind, not the 007 kind...) IAW U.S. law and for laundering large sums of money.  'For himself and not for anybody else.  Period.

 

Quick! Tell Mueller! It will spare him a lot of effort.

[Srikcir]

On 11/7/2017 at 1:51 PM, webfact said:

U.S. district judge again declined to ease bail conditions for President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort

Maybe Putin or Trump might provide some bond coverage with Manafort's understanding that he will flee - end of Mueller's key investigation and prosecution.