LEGAL/PAUL MANAFORT/ROBERT MUELLER/TRUMP PEOPLE: “U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort has been able to review evidence and is being treated like a ‘VIP’ in jail, prosecutors said on Wednesday [7-11-18], arguing against Manafort’s efforts to postpone his trial on fraud charges. In a filing to a Virginia federal judge overseeing one of two trials scheduled for Manafort, prosecutors said Manafort’s assertions in court papers about conditions in jail, including limited access to evidence and his attorneys, were untrue. In phone calls taped in his jail, prosecutors said Manafort had remarked that he was being treated like a ‘VIP’, was able to receive daily visits from lawyers and had access to ‘all my files like I would at home.’ Manafort’s prosecution spawned out of U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Manafort, who faces charges including bank fraud and failing to register as an agent for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, has a trial set for July 25 in Virginia and another trial in September in Washington.”
-Nathan Layne, “Ex-Trump aide Manafort says he has ‘VIP’ treatment in jail: taped calls,” Reuters, July 11, 2018 12:13 pm