March 23 (UPI) — Paul Manafort, a one-time aide to former President Donald Trump, was removed from a flight in Florida earlier this week because he had a revoked passport, authorities said Wednesday.
Detective Alvaro Zabaleta of the Miami-Dade Metro Police Department told CNN that Manafort was taken off the Emirates flight without incident Sunday night. He was attempting to fly to Dubai.
“His U.S. passport was revoked and he could not take his flight,” the spokesman said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection declined to comment on the incident.
“For privacy reasons, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is unable to discuss a specific individual’s arrival or departure into or from the United States,” a CBP representative told NBC News.
Manafort left Trump’s campaign in 2016 after his business ties with Ukraine were revealed. He became one of the subjects of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
He was convicted in federal court in August 2018 and served two years of a seven-year sentence before he was released over concerns involving the coronavirus.
Trump pardoned Manafort in late 2020 for criminal convictions related to his work with Ukraine for a pro-Russia political party.
