Paul Manafort's bail revoked; sent to jail ahead of bank fraud trial

Former campaign manager of US President Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, had his interim bail revoked by a federal judge Friday because of his alleged attempted tampering of witnesses ahead of his trial on money laundering, tax and bank fraud charges.

The move by a federal judge comes two weeks after Robert Mueller filed new accusations of witness tampering against Manafort.

I cannot turn a blind eye to this allegation, US District Judge Amy Jackson said.

Mueller, a former FBI director who is investigating allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, had urged the court to revoke Manafort's bail. He alleged that Manafort and a business associate tried to influence the testimony of potential witnesses against him.

Manafort, 69, appeared in a federal court and during the hearing, the judge cancelled his interim bail and he was immediately sent to a federal prison.

The former lobbyist, who was Trump's campaign manager for a few months in the summer of 2016, which included the Republican National Convention, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.