Ex-Trump aide Manafort in hospital due to cardiac incident: lawyer

[December 18, 2019]  (Reuters) - Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was convicted of numerous federal crimes last year, is in a hospital after suffering a cardiac incident in prison, his lawyer said on Tuesday.

Manafort, 70, has been recovering at a Pennsylvania hospital since last Thursday and is in stable condition, his lawyer Todd Blanche said in a statement, confirming an earlier report by ABC News.

"Of course, his family and friends are extremely concerned about his health and still do not have a full understanding of his medical condition or well-being," Blanche said.

Blanche said Manafort would not attend a previously scheduled court hearing on Wednesday. Blanche is representing Manafort against criminal charges brought by the Manhattan district attorney separately from his federal case.

Manafort worked for President Donald Trump's White House campaign for five months until August 2016, including a stint as chairman.

He is currently serving a 7-1/2-year sentence in a federal correctional facility in Pennsylvania for tax fraud, bank fraud and other charges stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, exits the courtroom after his arraignment in New York Supreme Court in New York, U.S., June 27, 2019. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Blanche said neither he nor Manafort's family was made aware of his medical issues until receiving a call from a journalist. Blanche said he had made repeated attempts to obtain information from the Bureau of Prisons over the past several days, but the agency refused to provide any information, apart from confirming that Manafort was safe, citing privacy and safety concerns.

"For safety and security and privacy reasons, we cannot provide specific information about an inmate's medical condition," Justin Long, a spokesman for the agency, said in response to a request for comment from Reuters.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne in New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Leslie Adler)

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