Politico: “Trump, his lawyers and some of his closest associates have spent months publicly dismissing the Manafort case, scheduled to begin this week in an Alexandria, Virginia, federal court.”

”But the Manafort trial will create daily reminders of the Mueller investigation, as commentators pile onto cable networks to discuss what the case could indicate about the president’s own exposure — and, potentially, as the president himself offers his own analysis on Twitter.”

“The special counsel prosecuting Paul Manafort is seeking to give immunity to five potential witnesses in advance of his trial in Alexandria federal court next week,” the Washington Post reports.

“All five have said they will not testify so as not to incriminate themselves… and so prosecutors are asking Judge T.S. Ellis III to grant them immunity and compel their testimony.”

“The motions are sealed, and the government will not reveal the names of the witnesses unless they are actually called to testify.”

Law & Crime: “The judge overseeing Paul Manafort‘s federal court case on charges of tax evasion and bank fraud in Virginia delayed proceedings in a surprise move on Monday afternoon. According to legal experts familiar with the federal court system, this could be an indication that Manafort is about to cut a plea deal.”

“The delay may or may not have caught the prosecution and defense off guard–but was certainly a shock to those watching the events unfold from a distance. According to the publicly-accessible court docket, no party had submitted a request for such a delay and there was also no indication of an official court notice being filed as of late Monday afternoon.”

According to telephone calls being monitored by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, Paul Manafort has recently told people he’s being treated like a ‘VIP’ at the Virginia prison where he’s been held since June 15, Politico reports.

“The longtime GOP operative’s living arrangements, described in an eight-page motion filed Wednesday by Mueller’s prosecutors, also include ‘unique privileges’ like a private, self-contained cell that’s bigger than what other inmates get, a private bathroom and shower, a personal telephone and daily access between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. to a workspace where Manafort can meet with his lawyers and prepare for his upcoming criminal trials. Manafort also doesn’t have to wear a prison uniform.”

“Paul Manafort has told people he is being treated like a ‘VIP’ in jail, where he has his own phone and computer, writes emails and does not have to wear a uniform,” the Washington Post reports.

“In arguing that Manafort’s July 25 trial in Alexandria federal court on bank and fraud charges should not be delayed, prosecutors said the former Trump campaign manager has been fully able to prepare while incarcerated in Northern Neck Regional Jail… He speaks to his attorneys every day and often multiple times a day, they said. While the calls are limited to 15 minutes in length, there is no limit on how many calls he can make.”

“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,” Axios reports.

“A personal assistant to Paul Manafort granted an FBI agent access to a storage locker in Virginia, allowing the government to secure evidence that President Trump’s former campaign manager is trying to suppress,” Reuters reports.

“Attorneys for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort want a judge to bar any mention of Manafort’s connections to the president at his Virginia trial,” the AP reports.

“Manafort’s lawyers filed their motion Friday in federal court in Alexandria ahead of next month’s scheduled trial. Manafort is charged in Virginia with hiding millions of dollars from the IRS he earned advising Ukrainian politicians. He faces a separate indictment in Washington.”

“In court papers, Manafort’s lawyers argue that because Manafort’s alleged crimes occurred before he ever served on President Donald Trump’s campaign, any mention of Manafort’s connections to Trump are irrelevant.”

“A federal judge revoked Paul Manafort’s bail and sent him to jail on Friday to await trial, citing new charges that Mr. Manafort had tried to influence the testimony of two of the government’s witnesses after he had been granted bail,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, had been allowed to post a $10 million bond and remain at home while awaiting his September trial on a host of charges, including money laundering and false statements.”

“The special counsel’s accusation this week that Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, tried to tamper with potential witnesses originated with two veteran journalists who turned on Mr. Manafort after working closely with him to prop up the former Russia-aligned president of Ukraine,” the New York Times reports.

“The two journalists, who helped lead a project to which prosecutors say Mr. Manafort funneled more than $2 million from overseas accounts, are the latest in a series of onetime Manafort business partners who have provided damaging evidence to Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Their cooperation with the government has increasingly isolated Mr. Manafort as he awaits trial on charges of violating financial, tax and federal lobbying disclosure laws.”

“A lawyer involved in several real estate deals that special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating in his criminal case against President Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort has hired his own ethics adviser,” Reuters reports.

“Prosecutors have alleged that two of Manafort’s New York companies were part of a scheme to take tens of millions of dollars earned overseas and launder it in the United States, including through real estate investments.”

The Atlantic: “Robert Mueller’s allegation that Manafort attempted to tamper with a witness permits us to peer inside Manafort’s mind, as it has functioned in a very different set of circumstances. When it comes to Manafort’s own deep problems, his moment of legal peril, he seems unable to muster strategic thinking. He has shown himself capable of profoundly dunderheaded miscalculations.”

“It’s hard to understand how he could have attempted the scheme described by Mueller in the midst of the highest-profile most-scrutinized criminal inquiry of the century. But that alone fails to capture the depths of his blundering.”

Special counsel Robert Mueller said in a court filing that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort has attempted to tamper with potential witness, Reuters reports.

New York Times: “Prosecutors said that was a violation of Mr. Manafort’s release while he awaits trial. They asked a federal judge to revise the terms of his release or revoke it entirely, which would send him to jail until trial.”

“Self-described friends of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort are launching a defense fund to help pay the mounting legal bills he’s incurring as a result of two looming criminal cases brought by special counsel Robert Mueller,” Politico reports.

From the website: “The Defense Fund is urging anyone who values civil liberties and wishes to show the ‘Deep State’ that they cannot exert their will on ordinary citizens, to join them in supporting the Manafort family as they grapple against the Special Counsel to clear their name.”