Paul Manafort Was Headed to Notorious and Dangerous Rikers Island Jail – Then AG Bill Barr’s Deputy Intervened


Paul Manafort

A couple weeks ago it was reported that former Trump 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort, 70, was to be transferred to Rikers Island jail complex where he would have likely lived in solitary confinement — until the Justice Department intervened.

Rikers Island, which is located between the Bronx and Queens in New York City, is known to be a very violent and dangerous facility with a chronic problem with gangs.

The notorious Rikers Island is full of hardened, violent inmates and the management is so poor that even inmates in protective custody aren’t safe.

Attorney General Bill Barr’s new Deputy Jeffrey Rosen, sent a letter to Manhattan prosecutors warning them he is monitoring where Paul Manafort would be held in New York, reported the New York Times.

Manhattan prosecutors were surprised to receive a letter from the second-highest law enforcement official in the country inquiring about Mr. Manafort’s case. The letter, from Jeffrey A. Rosen, Attorney General William P. Barr’s new top deputy, indicated that he was monitoring where Mr. Manafort would be held in New York.

And then, on Monday, federal prison officials weighed in, telling the Manhattan district attorney’s office that Mr. Manafort, 70, would not be going to Rikers.

Instead, he will await his trial at a federal lockup in Manhattan or at the Pennsylvania federal prison where he is serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for wide-ranging financial schemes, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

This move by Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen was described as “unusual” by Department of Justice officials.

Todd Blanche, a lawyer for Paul Manafort said the DOJ intervening is unusual, however , he argued that Manafort shouldn’t be facing state charges for the same ‘crimes’ he was already charged with on a federal level.

“You’ll find no example of someone like Mr. Manafort being prosecuted by the feds and then by the district attorney for exactly the same conduct,” Mr. Blanche said.

According to the New York Times, Manafort is to be arraigned next week on new state fraud charges.

Mueller and his thug Weissmann hunted down Manafort and charged him with crimes that have NOTHING to do with Russian collusion during the 2016 election.

In September, Manafort pleaded guilty to federal charges but in March, the crooked Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance announced an indictment charging Paul Manafort with 16 state felonies such as tax evasion and mortgage fraud.

Manafort was sentenced to 7 1/2 years for his federal charges and is pending separate charges from the state of New York.

Although President Trump can pardon Manafort, he does not have the authority to pardon him from state crimes — which is why the Communists in the SDNY hit Manafort with separate charges.

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Cristina began writing for The Gateway Pundit in 2016 and she is now the Associate Editor.

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