Judge denies Manafort request to suppress evidence

A U.S. District Court judge on Thursday denied a request from President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort to suppress evidence taken from a storage unit by special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators. 

Manafort said the evidence was taken without his permission, and that an FBI agent got one of his employees to give access to the storage unit. 

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District Court Judge Amy Jackson responded, “Law enforcement agents do not need a warrant to enter a location if they have voluntary consent,” according to Reuters.

Manafort’s lawyers told Jackson in a hearing last month that the search of the storage locker and a raid on his Virginia home were unreasonable and violated their client’s constitutional rights.

Manafort has pleaded not guilty to various charges in Mueller’s federal probe, including money laundering, tax fraud and bank fraud conspiracy.

Jackson directed Manafort, who was previously under house arrest, to be jailed in Virginia last week after she agreed to Mueller’s request to revoke his bail. 

Mueller filed a superseding indictment against Manafort, claiming Manafort attempted to tamper with witnesses in the case. 

The two witnesses originally reported Manafort’s alleged attempt to influence them to the special counsel earlier this month. 

Prosecutors have raised concerns about Manafort’s behavior under house arrest in the past. 

They alleged in December that Manafort had violated a gag order by helping to author an op-ed in a Ukrainian newspaper defending his work in the country.

Manafort’s trial is set for September.