Lock Him Up!! - Paul Manafort Is Behind Bars Tonight

Paul John Manafort, Junior was born on April Fools Day in 1949.  Today, the master manipulator was removed from house arrest and placed in jail because he was caught trying to tamper with two witnesses involved in his up-coming trials.  He is supposed to appear in a Northern Virginia court at the end of next month, and in a Washington, DC court in September for what are now 27 combined indictments.  The federal judge who heard his two witness-tampering charges declared that she could not take Manafort's telephone away from him, and he needed to realize he was no longer "in middle school" (ie: 6th, 7th or 8th grades).  Since he will not follow rules, she had no choice other than immediate incarceration.  Three federal marshals took Manafort from the court room to the holding cells and returned his wallet, belt, and necktie to his wife.
   Earlier this morning, in a rambling, disjointed "speech" on the White House lawn, the current resident of the Oval Office once again tried to distance himself from his Presidential Campaign Manager.  "... he only worked for me for 45 days."  He says he was campaigning and didn't really talk to Manafort very much at all.  The lies just keep pouring out of that orange mountain.
   For years, Manafort worked as a lobbyist and agent for foreign countries, but never registered with the US Department of Justice as such.  The Federal Bureau of Investigation began an investigation of Manafort in early 2014, due to his well-known ties to Ukrainian businessman. In January 2017 it was reported that Manafort was under active investigation by multiple federal agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the FBI,the Director of National Intelligence and the financial crimes unit of the Treasury Department.  The investigations were said to be based on intercepted Russian communications, as well as financial transactions.
  An indictment against Manafort and his business partner Rick Gates was issued in October 2017.  The charges are: engaging in a conspiracy against the United States; engaging in a conspiracy to launder money; failing to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts; acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign principal; making false and misleading statements in documents filed and submitted under the Foreign Agents Registration Act; and making false statements to investigators.  According to prosecutors Manafort laundered more than $18 million.  This was in the District of Columbia.
  In February 2018, both Manafort and Gates were further charged with additional crimes involving a tax avoidance scheme and bank fraud in the state of Virginia, as the alleged fraud actions happened in that state and not within the District. That indictment alleges that Manafort, with the assistance of Gates, laundered over $30 million through offshore bank accounts between 2006 and 2015.  Manafort allegedly used the funds in these offshore accounts to purchase real estate in the United States, in addition to personal goods and services.
   Gates plead guilty to the charges and has been cooperating with investigating authorities.  Manafort plead "Not Guilty" to all charges, made a bond deal of over $11 million, and was placed on house arrest.
   A week ago, on June 8, Manafort was indicted for obstruction of justice. The charges involve allegations that he attempted to convince others to lie about an undisclosed lobbying effort on behalf of Ukraine's former pro-Russian government.  Since these charges of witness tampering happened while Manafort was at home, on bond, under house arrest, Judge Jackson revoked Paul Manafort's bail this morning, and ordered him held in jail until his trial.
  His trial in Virginia is scheduled to begin on 24 July.  His trial in Washington, DC is scheduled to begin on 15 September.  Manafort will hopefully spend the rest of his life in jail or prison, once both of his trials have ended.