May 13, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Paul Manafort moved to home confinement amid coronavirus crisis

Photo: Yana Paskova/Getty Images

President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was released Wednesday to continue his prison sentence in home confinement after arguing that coronavirus was a threat to his health, CBS News reports.

The big picture: Manafort, 71, was sentenced last year under charges stemming from the Mueller investigation to a total of 7.5 years in prison on fraud charges and crimes related to his work as a political consultant in Ukraine.

  • Manafort's lawyers had asked that he be allowed to be under home confinement either for the remainder of his sentence or the duration of the pandemic, citing pre-existing medical conditions like high blood pressure and liver issues that could make him vulnerable.
  • They also argued that while there haven't been any reported coronavirus cases at LCI Loretto, the low-security federal prison in Pennsylvania where Manafort was being held, it is only a matter of time before the virus reaches the prison.

Go deeper: Paul Manafort officially forfeits Trump Tower condo to U.S. government

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Axios
Updated 6 hours ago - Health

U.S. coronavirus updates

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios. This graphic includes "probable deaths" that New York City began reporting on April 14.

Florida reported on Wednesday its largest number of new novel coronavirus cases in a single day since April 17. 1,317 people tested positive to take the state total to 58,764, per the state's health department. Despite the rise, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said bars and clubs could reopen on Friday.

By the numbers: More than 107,000 Americans have died of the coronavirus and over 1.8 million people have tested positive, per data from Johns Hopkins. More than 479,000 Americans have recovered and over 18 million tests have been conducted.

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Axios
Updated 5 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 7 a.m. ET: 6,530,067 — Total deaths: 386,392 — Total recoveries — 2,820,488 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 7 a.m. ET: 1,851,520 — Total deaths: 107,175 — Total recoveries: 479,258 — Total tested: 18,214,950 — Map.
  3. Tech: Telemedicine leads on coronavirus innovations.
  4. Business: Senate passes bill to ease PPP loan restrictions
  5. Public health: Hydroxychloroquine failed to prevent coronavirus infections — Concerns about at-home testing — WHO resumes hydroxychloroquine trial.
  6. Protests: The biggest crisis since 1968 — in the midst of a pandemic.
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Dion Rabouin
10 mins ago - Economy & Business

The risk asset rally continues as stock market rebounds

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Risk assets have jumped over the past week and continued their rally on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 gaining for a fourth straight day and posting its highest close since March 4, while the Nasdaq ended the day just 1.4% below its all-time high.

What it means: If it hadn't been evident before, Wednesday's market action made clear that the bulls are back in charge.

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