Former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort Hospitalized: Attorney

Paul Manafort arrives for a hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington on June 15, 2018. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was rushed to the hospital last week after suffering what was described as a “cardiac event” in prison, his attorney said.

Todd Blanche told the New York Daily News on Tuesday that his client was still recovering at a hospital in Pennsylvania.

Blanche declined to give further details.

Sources told ABC that Manafort is stable and could be released soon. He was slated to appear in court on Wednesday but Blanche told the outlet that he was informed Manafort wouldn’t be appearing in court.

Manafort, 70, was sentenced to 47 months in prison on March 7 and another 43 months about a week later, adding up to seven and a half years. He’s been serving time at U.S. Penitentiary-Canaan in Canaan Township near Scranton.

Manafort served as Trump’s campaign chairman for about two months before stepping down after reports of his prior work in Ukraine.

Manafort appeared in court last year in a wheelchair and his lawyers wrote in a memo that their client’s health was deteriorating in prison and that he shouldn’t spend the rest of his life locked up.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort arrives to his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on June 27, 2019. Yana Paskova/Getty Images

Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates leaves federal court after sentencing in Washington on Dec. 17, 2019. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Manafort’s attorneys said that he was “widely vilified in a manner that this country has not experienced in decades” and “deeply remorseful for his crimes.”

Citing a study by the Department of Justice, the lawyers said Manafort’s age made him “vulnerable to abuse and predation” and that he already had medical issues such as “severe gout.”

“Aside from high blood pressure, Mr. Manafort was a relatively healthy 69-year-old man before he was remanded to custody in June 2018, where has been held in protective solitary confinement. As detailed in the PSR, since that time, his health has deteriorated,” they wrote, adding that even on “good” days he required a cane to move around.

News of Manafort’s “cardiac event” broke on the same day that Manafort’s former deputy, Rick Gates, was sentenced to 45 days in jail for financial fraud and lying to investigators.

“Your honor, I wish to express to this court that I accept complete responsibility for my actions that have led me here,” Gates said in court. “I greatly regret the mistakes that I’ve made and I’ve worked hard to honor my commitment to make amends. My family and I appreciate your consideration for leniency. And I hope and pray that you will grant that to me.”