For months, it’s seemed curious that Paul Manafort has been kept in solitary confinement since the beginning of the summer. At least since July, Manafort has spent 23 hours a day locked up with the sole exception of visiting his attorneys, the sort of treatment usually reserved for uniquely dangerous criminals, not white-collar felons. As of October, Manafort was wheelchair-ridden due to health problems, never explicated or directly tied to his confinement, but 23 hours a day in solitude certainly couldn’t have helped.

Legal reports claimed that Manafort was stuck in solitary to guarantee his safety. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s latest filing points to a more plausible reason: The White House couldn’t stop sticking its neck out for Manafort.