Manafort Seeks to Suppress Evidence Taken From Virginia Home

• April 10 2018
• David Voreacos

Paul Manafort filed a motion to suppress evidence obtained from his home in Alexandria, Virginia, saying the search warrant used to collect the evidence was overly broad and violated his constitutional rights.

Paul Manafort filed a motion to suppress evidence obtained from his home in Alexandria, Virginia, saying the search warrant used to collect the evidence was overly broad and violated his constitutional rights.

• FBI agents who executed the search exceeded the warrant’s parameters, according to a filing Monday
• The Special Counsel didn’t have the authority or jurisdiction to apply for the search warrant, Manafort said in the filing
• Agents sought evidence of purchases, including a Bijan Black Titanium “Royal Way” watch that cost $21,000, according to an affidavit in support of a search warrant application attached to the court filing
• Manafort gave a witness a bag of computers and asked the witness to wipe the drives clean before giving them to charity, the affidavit shows
• The government has “improperly retained” everything it seized for almost nine months, according to the court filing
• NOTE: Manafort Says FBI Illegally Searched Storage Unit for Evidence
• The case is U.S. v. Manafort, 1:17-cr-00201, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington)