Paul Manafort is asking the D.C. Circuit to release him from jail. On Monday (June 25), the former Trump campaign chairman filed a notice that he is appealing D.C. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s order that revoked his bail and sent him straight to a Virginia jail for allegedly trying to influence the testimony of two potential witnesses in his upcoming corruption trial.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is prosecuting Manafort in D.C. for money laundering and failure to register as a foreign agent. Jackson’s June 15 order came on the heels of Mueller bringing additional charges against Manafort for witness tampering. Prosecutors accused Manafort of contacting two principals of a public relations company who allegedly helped Manafort with his lobbying work on behalf of Ukraine. Manafort tried to convince them to provide false testimony, prosecutors said.
Also on Monday, Manafort appealed Jackson’s dismissal of a civil suit he filed earlier this year challenging Mueller’s scope of authority.
Manafort is set to face trial in the district court on September 17. It is unclear how quickly the D.C. Circuit—which does not typically hold arguments during the summer—will consider his appeal. Manafort is also scheduled to face trial July 25 in the Eastern District of Virginia on separate charges of bank and tax fraud.
Manafort’s dual appeal will mark the first time that both he and the special counsel’s office will appear before the D.C. Circuit. But it almost certainly won’t be the last.
