Newly released court documents explain that President Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort is being kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day ahead of his July 25 trial, citing that his safety cannot be guaranteed otherwise while in prison. 
 
 The big picture: Manafort's bail was revoked by a judge, and his legal team is currently appealing that decision arguing that being imprisoned in such a manner at a facility two hours away from his legal team is hampering his ability to defend himself. Manafort has been indicted on charges including money laundering and bank fraud. ||||| Paul Manafort is all alone. 
 
 Paul Manafort is being kept in solitary confinement in a Virginia jail in order to “guarantee his safety,” his lawyer said in court documents filed this week. “He is locked in his cell for at least 23 hours per day (excluding visits from his attorneys),” defense attorney Kevin Downing wrote. 
 
 In a brief filed Thursday, Downing wrote that Manafort is unable to adequately prepare for his two upcoming trails, the first of which starts later this month, while locked up. Manafort’s lawyers also argued that the witness-tampering charges that landed him in jail are not so bad because they did not include threats of physical violence. So they’re asking that Manafort be released. 
 
 Prosecutors from special counsel Robert Mueller’s office were having none of it. In its own filing, Mueller’s team said Manafort’s attempt to tamper with witnesses is “no less damaging to the justice system when committed through covert corrupt persuasion than through overt violence.” Last month, Manafort was accused of trying to influence witness testimony while he was under house arrest. 
 
 They also wrote that Manafort does not deserve special treatment since the limitations he’s facing “are common to defendants incarcerated pending trial.” 
 
 Manafort has reportedly been locked away in the “VIP” section of Virginia’s Northern Neck Regional Jail since he arrived on June 15. John Dowd, former lawyer to President Trump, has called the imprisonment “harsh” and an “outrageous violation” of Manafort’s civil liberties.
– Paul Manafort's lawyers are pushing to get him out of jail to prepare for his upcoming trials, and their newly filed court documents reveal something of a surprise: President Trump's former campaign manager is being kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, reports Axios. The reason? The Northern Neck Regional Jail in Virginia "cannot otherwise guarantee his safety," the lawyers write. What's more, the jail is about a two-hour drive for his defense team, and all of this "makes it effectively impossible for Mr. Manafort to prepare" for his trials on money laundering and bank fraud. Manafort had his bail revoked and got sent to jail last month after he was accused of tampering with witnesses. His lawyers are appealing that decision, but prosecutors say the limitations he's facing behind bars "are common to defendants incarcerated pending trial," per New York. The court documents do not provide details on the safety concerns regarding Manafort. His first trial is scheduled to start on July 25, and the charges he's facing are unrelated to his work on the Trump campaign of 2016.