National

Ex-Trump aide Paul Manafort arrives at Alexandria lockup; placed in protective custody

WASHINGTON — Paul Manafort arrived Thursday at a detention center in Alexandria, Va., following his transfer from a rural Virginia jail where federal prosecutors claimed that the former Trump campaign chairman was afforded special treatment.

He appeared unshaven and somewhat haggard in a mugshot. Alexandria Sheriff Dana Lawhorne described Manafort's entry check-in at the William G. Truesdale Detention Center as "routine."

“Because he is a high-profile inmate, Mr. Manafort will be placed in protective custody, which limits his interactions with other inmates," Lawhorne said in a statement. "Specific details about Mr. Manafort’s confinement will not be made public due to security and privacy concerns. We will work closely with the U.S. Marshals to ensure his proper care while he remains in our custody."

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis ordered Manafort moved after his attorneys indicated that his confinement in the Northern Neck Regional Jail, about 100 miles away, made it difficult to prepare for his upcoming trial in Alexandria on bank and tax fraud.

Manafort's attorneys initially referred to the lack of proximity in their request for a postponement of the July 25 trial.

Federal prosecutors have opposed the request, referring to information gleaned from Manafort's recorded phone conversations at Northern Neck in which he allegedly indicated that a review of trial documents had been completed and that he was being treated as a "VIP."

Among the privileges afforded to Manafort at the Northern Neck facility: no requirement to wear a inmate uniform; a suite of rooms, including a private shower; and a personal telephone and laptop.

In Alexandria, Manafort joins about 400 other inmates. The facility has housed such notable prisoners as former FBI agent and convicted spy Robert Hanssen and terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui.