Ex-Trump campaign chairman Manafort sent to jail

Washington DC [United States], June 16 (ANI): United States President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sent to jail by a federal judge who alleged that the former attempted to tamper with witnesses.

US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington D.C. revoked Manafort's bail which had permitted him to live in his Alexandria, Virginia, apartment under house arrest, reported CNN.

"The harm in this case is harm to the administration of justice and harm to the integrity of the court's system," the report quoted Berman Jackson as telling Manafort in court.

"This is not middle school. I can't take his cellphone. I thought about this long and hard, Mr. Manafort. I have no appetite for this," she added.

Paul Manafort, who is facing money laundering and tax evasion charges among others, was the first former Trump campaign aide to be jailed in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election since May 2017.

In total, he faces seven criminal charges in DC federal court.

Trump took to Twitter and wrote, "Wow, what a tough sentence for Paul Manafort, who has represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and many other top political people and campaigns. Didn't know Manafort was the head of the Mob. What about Comey and Crooked Hillary and all of the others? Very unfair!"

With this, Manafort will have to prepare for two federal trials in the coming weeks - one in Washington before Jackson on September 17, and one in Alexandria, Virginia on July 25 on bank- and tax-fraud charges, according to the reports. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI