© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Manafort: Never Mind, Please Don't Move Me To Jail Near Washington After All

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort changed his mind on Tuesday and asked a judge to keep him in detention in Warsaw, Va., and not move him to Northern Virginia after all.
Mark Wilson
/
Getty Images
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort changed his mind on Tuesday and asked a judge to keep him in detention in Warsaw, Va., and not move him to Northern Virginia after all.

Updated at 6:12 p.m.

President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort asked a federal judge on Tuesday to keep him in a jail about 100 miles from Washington, D.C., after receiving permission earlier in the day to move closer.

Judge T.S. Ellis III had directed the U.S. Marshals Service to move Manafort from the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Va., and bring him closer to the courthouse in Alexandria, Va., just outside Washington.

Manafort had said that being locked up so far from his lawyers made it hard to prepare for his trial on charges of bank and tax fraud. Then, later on Tuesday, he changed his mind. His attorneys asked Ellis to keep him in Warsaw after all.

Manafort has pleaded not guilty. He was ordered to jail ahead of his trial after prosecutors accused him of contacting witnesses to influence their testimony. A new federal indictment on those charges soon followed.

Manafort has asked to delay the Virginia trial for months.

Prosecutors working for Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, however, have signaled they are ready to start their case in Virginia on July 25 as planned.

The special counsel's office also opposes a proposed change in the location of the trial from Alexandria, Va., in the National Capital Region, southwest to Roanoke.

Manafort's legal team argued that not only could he not get a politically fair jury in more Democratic-leaning Northern Virginia but that people in Southwest Virginia have less access to high-speed Internet and other communications, which means potential jurors there wouldn't be familiar enough with his case to prejudge it.

The Roanoke Times welcomed the prospective change of venue in an editorial on Tuesday — "think of what a weeks-long national trial would mean for hotels and restaurants," it wrote — but it slammed the idea that locals don't know about current events.

"We may not be as wrapped up in the case as people in Northern Virginia — where politics is the biggest local industry — but is there really a registered voter in Southwest Virginia who has not heard of Manafort's indictment and special counsel Robert Mueller's larger investigation?" the editors asked.

"We may not have as much broadband as Northern Virginia, and the broadband we have may not be as fast, but we're not ignorant."

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Carrie Johnson is a justice correspondent for the Washington Desk.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Related Content