Manafort Trial Roundup: It's Bad News All Around For Paul
Paul Manafort lost literally every motion he filed and the judge was not shy about expressing his displeasure about...well, everything Manafort and his legal team have done.
Paul Manafort had an exceptionally bad day, in terms of court rulings. I mean, so bad that it is hard to keep up with the motions, responses to motions, court rulings. Suffice to say, it was not a good day for the Manafort defense team.
Here is a bit of what went down:
Just last week, Manafort requested that his trial be moved from Alexandria to Roanoke, a more Republican area, although still not considered Trump country by any means.
Just Tuesday Manafort changed his mind and asked to remain at his current jail. The judge said "nope" and he is being moved to a new jail before his new trial starts in just 2 short weeks. Why is this happening? Well, it could be because of all the stunts he is pulling behind bars. What stunts, you ask? Well, it appears he is doing a laptop switcharoo where he types up an email, but doesn't send it and then hands the laptop to his lawyers who hook up to the internet once they are out of the jail and THEY send the email. Yes this idiot thinks Mueller isn't tracking all of his emails.
What else? Manafort's "solitary confinement" isn't that bad. He has had hundreds of phone calls to his lawyers, is allowed almost unfettered phone calls to others and is allowed a "private living unit larger than where other inmates stay that has its own bathroom, shower, telephone and workspace, and he has a laptop with an extension cord he can use daily in his room at Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Virginia."
He also is allowed to wear his own clothes!
Another huge setback for Manafort came in a ruling that denied his attempt to get evidence seized from his apartment in Alexandria thrown out. Judge Ellis wasn't having it and said: "These facts, taken together, lend ample support to the common-sense conclusion reached by the magistrate judge here, namely that probable cause existed."
Order here:
Oh, and Manafort is trying to get FARA evidence from the 80's and 90's thrown out
More:
It ended with the Mueller team asking for 100 MORE blank subpoenas, bringing the total to 250 in the last month. These subpoenas require recipients to testify in court in 2 weeks when Manafort's Virginia trial begins in Alexandria on July 25th.
Terrible day for Manafort, but I suspect it is going to get exponentially worse in 14 days when his trial starts on July 25th.