So this happened:
President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been released from prison to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement because of concerns over the novel coronavirus, two sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
He appears to be “special” case (I wonder why) while Michael Cohen was denied a similar release. It’s pretty clear both were manipulated at the behest of Donald Trump.
I actually think this is fine. Manafort is 71 and he’s a high risk person who is no danger to anyone. I see no reason why anyone in his position isn’t being released and put under house arrest. Cohen should have been released as well. These people didn’t get the death penalty.
Over half the inmates at the federal prison in Lompoc are infected with coronavirus and one woman said her attempts at finding out whether her father is one of the patients have been futile.
“Infuriating, frustrating, scary,” Holly Mowry, whose father is incarcerated, said. Emotions come in waves as Mowry reads headlines on her computer in Florida. Mowry said news stories are the only official information she has about the coronavirus outbreak at the prison.
To help mitigate the spread of the virus, Federal Bureau of Prisons Public Information Officer Justin Long said phone use by inmates has temporarily been suspended at the prison.
Mowry said her only means of communication with her father, Charles Molesworth, is by mail. “The letters I’ve gotten from my dad basically said that if one person gets it, we’re all going to get it,” Mowry said.
Outgoing phone calls and emails are restricted through May 18, according to Long.
“This action was taken to prevent transmission of the virus by multiple people touching keyboards and telephone handsets,” Long said in an email statement. “FCI Lompoc will continue to evaluate this approach and will make these communication avenues available as soon as possible.”
Mowry’s 69-year-old father, who is serving a 5-year prison sentence, has yet to report he’s ill.
But over half of the 1,044 inmates confined at the prison in Lompoc are now infected with COVID-19.
Good lord.