Manafort reaches $11 million bail deal with Mueller’s team

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has reached an $11 million bail deal with federal prosecutors working for special counsel Robert Mueller after Manafort was charged with money laundering and tax fraud last month.

Manafort was charged alongside business associate Richard Gates in October and surrendered to authorities. He has since been under house arrest, unable to leave his Virginia residence except for medical or religious reasons.

Now, that house arrest could come to an end after defense attorneys presented “an agreed-upon bail package” with Mueller’s team in court filings on Thursday, Politico reported. The deal requires Manafort to pledge four properties he owns, which prosecutors say equal $11 million in value.

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“The Defendant will execute an agreement to forfeit four (4) separate real properties if there is a bail violation with a total estimated net value (i.e., fair market value less encumbrances) of approximately $11.65 million. The [Office of Special Counsel] has agreed that the properties posted provide the reasonable assurance required under the Bail Reform Act,” Mueller’s attorneys wrote.

Under the deal, Manfort would be free to travel anywhere in Virginia, New York, Florida and Washington, D.C. Other travel would require permission from the court.

The deal also requires Manafort’s wife, Kathleen Manafort, to pay $10 million if the former Trump aide were to flee. Manafort has also surrendered three passports, and Kathleen Manafort surrendered hers as well.

Gates, who is also under house arrest in Virginia, has been offered a $5 million bond in his case.

The charges against Manafort and Gates were filed as part of Mueller’s ongoing probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Manafort has consistently denied colluding with Russia.

The special counsel’s office, run under the Justice Department, has the authority to investigate “any and all matters” that arise from the wider probe into Russia’s election meddling.