Nov. 6 (UPI) — A federal judge decided Monday to keep former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and associate Rick Gates under home confinement — pending agreement from prosecutors and defense on a bail package.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said in a hearing Monday, “if financial arrangements are made that are satisfactory to the government, I am inclined to impose a less restrictive regime. I’m not in position to grant either motion today. We’re going to have to wait for consideration of further information.”
Manafort worked on the Trump campaign between March and August 2016. Gates served as Manafort’s deputy on the campaign but remained as a campaign official and organized Trump’s presidential inauguration.
The two men appeared before the judge Monday for the third time after they were indicted last week.
Manafort, 68, and Gates, 45, pleaded not guilty last week in special counselor Robert Mueller‘s probe of possible Russian influence in U.S. political affairs. The indictment contains 12 counts of conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading statements surrounding the Foreign Agents Registration Act and failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.
Both remain on GPS monitoring and are not allowed to leave the country. They are allowed to leave their homes to meet with counsel, go to court or any medical and religious obligations.
Jackson said she believes each are a flight risk.
Government and defense attorneys hope to present a proposed package of assets from Manafort and Gates by Monday afternoon.
Manafort’s attorneys want him released from his Alexandria, Va., home and have unrestricted travel in Florida, Virginia, New York and Washington, D.C., for business purposes. In return, they offered to post $12.5 million of his claimed $28 million in assets as security. They include Trump Tower apartment, another condo in Manhattan and a home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Additionally, he has $4.5 million in life insurance policies held by trusts or his wife, Kathleen.
Prosecutors said Manafort hadn’t documented his claimed $28 million in assets or net worth. The government previously said he claimed $136 million in assets in documents last year.
Jackson said she leans toward releasing the men from home arrest but keeping them under electronic GPS monitoring. She noted prosecutors appeared “willing to be flexible on the issue.”
After Manafort makes a full disclosure of assets, prosecutors would agree to lifting house arrest in exchange for a $10 million bond by Manafort secured by two individuals. They don’t want him to travel outside Virginia, New York and Florida.
Gates can pledge $5 million in assets and would be able to travel to Richmond, Va.
