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Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort has been sent to jail, after a judge in Washington DC revoked his bail.
Mr Manafort, 69, who led the campaign from March until August 2016, was accused of witness tampering while awaiting trial set for September on federal conspiracy charges.
The charges were brought by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is currently investigation Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion between Mr Trump's campaign and Russia.
Mr Manafort, a well-known Washington lobbyist, asked to post a $10 million bond and end seven months of home detention.
His lawyers called the accusation of witness tampering “very specious,” and said it was a “not-too-subtle attempt to poison the potential jury pool against Mr Manafort.”
Mr Trump described it as "very unfair", pointing out that at Mr Manafort had worked for Ronald Reagan and Bob Dole, and joked bitterly: "Didn't know Manafort was head of the Mob."
And, hours after three US marshals led Mr Manafort out of the courtroom into the prisoner holding area, Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump's lawyer, said that the Russia investigation could get "cleaned up" with presidential pardons.
“When the whole thing is over, things might get cleaned up with some presidential pardons,” the former New York mayor told the New York Daily News.
Mr Giuliani again called for the Mueller investigation to be immediately halted.
“They’re out of control,” he said, of the prosecutors.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson refused to allow his bail to continue, and sent him to jail.
She said she had "struggled" with the decision but she couldn't "turn a blind eye" to his conduct. "You have abused the trust placed in you six months ago," she said.
"This hearing is not about politics, is not about conduct of the office of the special counsel."
It was not immediately clear when Mr Manafort would be imprisoned or where.
Mr Trump on Friday morning attempted to downplay the role of his campaign manager, saying he was a peripheral figure.
"Paul Manafort worked for me for a very short period of time. He worked for me, what, for 49 days or something?"
Critics pointed out that it was 144 days.
Prosecutors made the request to detain Mr Manafort on June 4, when they argued in court papers that he tried to tamper with two witnesses after he was indicted in Washington for a second time on February 23.
He is accused, along with his associate, Konstantin Kilimnik, of contacting the two witnesses this year, hoping to persuade them to testify that Mr Manafort had never lobbied in the United States for Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Moscow president of Ukraine who fled to Russia in 2014 after he was ousted from power.
This week, prosecutors submitted as evidence a four-page memo that Mr Manafort wrote to Mr Yanukovych detailing his campaign to convince members of Congress, the state department and the Western news media that Mr Yanukovych was a champion of democratic reforms.
Mr Manafort is charged with failing to register as a "foreign agent" and disclose those lobbying efforts to the justice department, as required, and with lying to department officials who questioned him.
Four days after the prosecutors accused him of witness tampering, a grand jury indicted him.
Mr Manafort has pleaded not guilty.
Judge Jackson said she had no way to stop Mr Manafort from contacting people while he remained free on bail.
“This is not middle school,” she told lawyers. “I can’t take his cellphone.” He is also accused of laundering more than $30 million in income he received over a nine-year period for lobbying for Mr Yanukovych and his political party and its successor.
Mr. Manafort faces additional federal charges in Northern Virginia of tax evasion, bank fraud and failure to report foreign bank accounts, also arising from the same activities. That trial is scheduled for late July.
Mr Manafort, 69, who led the campaign from March until August 2016, was accused of witness tampering while awaiting trial set for September on federal conspiracy charges.
The charges were brought by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is currently investigation Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion between Mr Trump's campaign and Russia.
Mr Manafort, a well-known Washington lobbyist, asked to post a $10 million bond and end seven months of home detention.
His lawyers called the accusation of witness tampering “very specious,” and said it was a “not-too-subtle attempt to poison the potential jury pool against Mr Manafort.”
Mr Trump described it as "very unfair", pointing out that at Mr Manafort had worked for Ronald Reagan and Bob Dole, and joked bitterly: "Didn't know Manafort was head of the Mob."
And, hours after three US marshals led Mr Manafort out of the courtroom into the prisoner holding area, Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump's lawyer, said that the Russia investigation could get "cleaned up" with presidential pardons.
“When the whole thing is over, things might get cleaned up with some presidential pardons,” the former New York mayor told the New York Daily News.
Mr Giuliani again called for the Mueller investigation to be immediately halted.
“They’re out of control,” he said, of the prosecutors.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson refused to allow his bail to continue, and sent him to jail.
She said she had "struggled" with the decision but she couldn't "turn a blind eye" to his conduct. "You have abused the trust placed in you six months ago," she said.
"This hearing is not about politics, is not about conduct of the office of the special counsel."
It was not immediately clear when Mr Manafort would be imprisoned or where.
Mr Trump on Friday morning attempted to downplay the role of his campaign manager, saying he was a peripheral figure.
"Paul Manafort worked for me for a very short period of time. He worked for me, what, for 49 days or something?"
Critics pointed out that it was 144 days.
Prosecutors made the request to detain Mr Manafort on June 4, when they argued in court papers that he tried to tamper with two witnesses after he was indicted in Washington for a second time on February 23.
He is accused, along with his associate, Konstantin Kilimnik, of contacting the two witnesses this year, hoping to persuade them to testify that Mr Manafort had never lobbied in the United States for Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Moscow president of Ukraine who fled to Russia in 2014 after he was ousted from power.
This week, prosecutors submitted as evidence a four-page memo that Mr Manafort wrote to Mr Yanukovych detailing his campaign to convince members of Congress, the state department and the Western news media that Mr Yanukovych was a champion of democratic reforms.
Mr Manafort is charged with failing to register as a "foreign agent" and disclose those lobbying efforts to the justice department, as required, and with lying to department officials who questioned him.
Four days after the prosecutors accused him of witness tampering, a grand jury indicted him.
Mr Manafort has pleaded not guilty.
Judge Jackson said she had no way to stop Mr Manafort from contacting people while he remained free on bail.
“This is not middle school,” she told lawyers. “I can’t take his cellphone.” He is also accused of laundering more than $30 million in income he received over a nine-year period for lobbying for Mr Yanukovych and his political party and its successor.
Mr. Manafort faces additional federal charges in Northern Virginia of tax evasion, bank fraud and failure to report foreign bank accounts, also arising from the same activities. That trial is scheduled for late July.
