Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort being treated like a “VIP” in prison, prosecutors for special counsel Robert Mueller said in a Wednesday court filing.
Lawyers for Manafort filed a motion last week asking for his trial to be delayed from July 25 to the fall. They also asked the trial be moved from Alexandria, Va., a Washington suburb, to Roanoke, Va. Manafort’s lawyers argued that Manafort has not had adequate time to prepare for the trial while he is incarcerated in Northern Neck Regional Jail because of the distance from his lawyers and his limited electronic and phone access.
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However, Manafort withdrew his request Tuesday to transfer to a detention center in Alexandria. The judge overseeing the Alexandria case, T.S. Ellis III, declined the withdrawal request, and ordered Manafort be moved to behind bars in Alexandria immediately.
In the Eastern District of Virginia, the 69-year-old is facing charges of bank and tax fraud centering on his work as a lobbyist in Ukraine. He has pleaded not guilty.
But Mueller’s team of prosecutors on Wednesday cite a recorded prison call where Manafort says he can visit with his lawyers “every day,” has “gone through all the discovery now” and has “all my files I would like at home.”
“Among the unique privileges Manafort enjoys at the jail are a private, self-contained living unit, which is larger than other inmates’ units, his own bathroom and shower facility, his own personal telephone, and his own workspace to prepare for trial,” prosecutors wrote. “Manafort is also not required to wear a prison uniform. On the monitored prison phone calls, Manafort has mentioned that he is being treated like a ‘VIP’.”
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Telphone logs show that in the last three weeks, Manafort has had more than 100 phone calls with his attorneys and another 200 calls with other persons.
“Manafort also possesses a personal laptop that he is permitted to use in his unit to review materials and prepare for trial. The jail has made extra accommodations for Manafort’s use of the laptop, including providing him an extension cord to ensure the laptop can be used in his unit and not just in the separate workroom,” wrote Mueller’s team of Andrew Weissman, Greg Andres, and Brandon L. Van Grack.
Ellis said lawyers for Mueller and Manafort are due in court next Tuesday for oral arguments on whether to move the trial location or to delay it.
Manafort is also facing charges in Washington, where a federal judge ordered him jail last month after he was indicted on additional allegations of witness tampering. That trial is set to begin in September.
Embedded below is the latest court filing:
