Paul Manafort asks to be released pending appeal
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is asking to be released pending his appeal. He is asking Judge Amy Berman Jackson to release from jail while he awaits his trial.
The filing in D.C. Court of Appeals argues that his detention "gravely impairs" his ability to prepare for the defenses in his two trials. It also describes his detention at Northern Neck Regional Jail. "Mr. Manafort—a 69-year-old man facing criminal charges in two complex federal cases—is now being housed in solitary confinement, locked in his cell for 24 hours per day (excluding visits from his attorneys)," the filing reads.
His lawyers claim that Manafort did not tamper with witnesses and calls the government's evidence on this accusation "thin – to be generous." They maintain that Manafort was simply trying to give the two witnesses a "heads up" about the news attention from the superseding indictment in February.
Judge Jackson's detention order is overly extreme, his lawyers say, because Manafort does not pose a "danger to any person or the community."
All briefs for the appeal will be submitted to the court by July 25, two days before Manafort's trial in Virginia is scheduled to begin.
His filing can be seen here: