Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort has been jailed for allegedly seeking to influence witnesses as part of the ongoing Russia investigation.
Mr Manafort had his bail revoked at a court hearing in Washington on Friday morning, and was sent to jail where he is expected to remain until his trial in September on multiple felony charges.
Mr Manafort had been released on a $10 billion bail last year after being indicted on a series of charges, including money laundering and failure to register as a foreign agent.
He had been placed under house arrest while awaiting trial. But in a court hearing on Friday, Judge Amy Berman Jackson said that Mr Manafort's repeated attempts to contact witnesses meant she had no choice but to revoke his bail.
“This is not middle school,” she told lawyers. “I can’t take his cellphone.”
Prosecutors alleged last week that Mr Manafort had improperly tried to influence two witnesses in the Russia investigation. He allegedly tried to persuade the witnesses to state that their consultancy work on behalf of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich had been undertaken in Europe and not the United States.
US president Donald Trump criticised the judge's decision in a tweet shortly afterwards the court hearing. "Wow, what a tough sentence for Paul Manafort, who has represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and many other top political people and campaigns," he said. "Didn't know Manafort was the head of the Mob. What about Comey and Crooked Hillary and all of the others? Very unfair!"
Earlier in the day during an impromptu press conference on the White House north lawn, Mr Trump said that Mr Manafort had "nothing to do" with his campaign, saying that the consultant had worked for other Republicans like Mr Dole and John McCain and had only worked for his campaign "for 49 days or something".
Russian oligarchs
The decision to jail Mr Manafort could increase pressure on the 69 year old to co-operate with investigators who are examining Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Mr Manafort, a longtime Republican operative, has worked on behalf of Russian oligarchs and pro-Russian Ukrainians. It has emerged he was under surveillance by the FBI since 2014. He joined the Trump campaign in early 2016 at a crucial point in Mr Trump’s campaign as his candidacy was gathering support. As well as the charges that were lodged at the DC court, Mr Manafort is facing separate charges in Virginia.
Mr Trump also faced criticism for comments made during a Fox News interview on Friday in which he praised North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and seemed to suggest that Americans should have the same respect for their leader as North Koreans have for theirs.
"He's the head of a country. And I mean, he is the strong head," he said in an interview with breakfast TV show Fox & Friends from the White House lawn. "Don't let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same," he said.
Asked to clarify the comments later by reporters, Mr Trump said he had been "kidding". He also said the North Korean problem was now "largely solved" after the Singapore summit. Describing the document signed by both leaders as "a very good document", he said that what was more important was his relationship with Mr Kim. "I have a good relationship with Kim Jong-un. That's a very important thing. I can now call him. I can now say, 'Well, we have a problem.'"
He said that he had given Mr Kim a “direct number”. “He can now call me if he has any difficulty. I can call him. We have communication. It’s a very good thing.”
