Attorneys for ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on Saturday proposed putting up three of his real estate properties as part of a bond package as a condition of his release from home confinement.
The proposal, to which Special Counsel Robert Mueller has not yet agreed, would let Manafort travel to Florida, New York, Virginia and Washington, D.C., but not internationally.
In addition to the real estate properties, which have an estimated total worth of $8 million, Manafort’s attorneys also suggested putting up Manafort’s and his wife’s $4.5 million in insurance policies as part of the package.
“Counsel for Mr. Manafort and the Office of Special Counsel have been discussing a potential agreed-upon bail package recommendation but, as noted above, securing the additional documentation for the values of Mr. Manafort’s assets and liabilities over the weekend has proven problematic,” his attorneys said. They noted the lack of agreement with the government on the proposed package.
“The defense contends that, nevertheless, the recommended bail package will reasonably assure the defendant’s appearance as required under the Bail Reform Act,” the attorneys said in the filing.
Manafort has been in home confinement since he turned himself in to the FBI on Monday. The government, in an indictment unsealed on Monday, is charging Manafort and his business partner Rick Gates with tax evasion, money laundering and failure to disclose foreign lobbying.
The indictment comes as part of Mueller’s Russia investigation. Court documents from the probe also unsealed on Monday revelaed that the Special Counsel also secured a guilty plea from George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign advisor who lied to the FBI about his communications with Russia-tied figures during the campaign.
In filings since the Manafort-Gates indictment, Mueller has argued that Gates and Manafort are a flight risk. The federal judge in the case, Judge Amy Jackson Berman, said at a hearing on Thursday that she also had that concern.
Manafort’s lawyers on Saturday rebuked that characterization. They pointed to Manafort’s family ties to the U.S. and his lack of criminal record. They downplayed the web of foreign accounts Manafort allegedly used, as illustrated by Mueller’s indictment.
“Simply stated, Mr. Manafort’s assets—primarily real estate—are in the United States, except for some nominal account balances in Cyprus, and the Government has those records,” Manafort’s attorneys said.
The filing also addressed a concern the government raised about the three passports Manafort allegedly held.
Manafort’s lawyers said his second passport was a back-up for submitting visa applications, and that Manafort obtained the third when he thought he had lost the primary document.
Gates’ attorney filed a motion on Thursday seeking to release Gates from home confinement and to allow him to travel both in the U.S. and abroad.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Monday morning.
Read the filing below:
Real Estate means nothing to a vulture like Manafort.
How about he puts up a wife, child, or grandchild?
Never mind, he’s still a vulture…
Put up cash, pal, like every other defendant that the court thinks might endanger the community or might flee from prosecution. You want to use your properties? Go to a bank and use them as collateral for a cash loan.
Or, put on a jumpsuit.
Meaningless action without a thorough title search and a determination that there are no other liens or encumbrances on the property.
Real Estate - like that home that was being remodeled for millions over a number of years - that only after the early am raid, was a crew hired to start doing some work (and had to be sent word - via reporters - that the owner was in custody last Monday)?
Given Manafort’s ties to Russia, and the way Putin has of disposing people that embarrass him , the judge shouldn’t be considering anything short of an isolation cell in close protective custody.