Paul Manafort Granted Thanksgiving Break From House Arrest, Ruling Stipulates That He Must Remain Sober

Buzzfeed News reports:

Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his longtime associate Rick Gates got permission from a judge on Tuesday to temporarily leave house arrest later this week to celebrate Thanksgiving.

The order from US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson came with a few conditions: Manafort and Gates will remain under GPS monitoring, must report exactly where they’re going and when, and they won’t be allowed to drink alcohol. The government had said it wouldn’t oppose the leave request subject to those restrictions, according to court filings, but didn’t offer any explanation for the no-drinking rule.

Manafort and Gates’ lawyer declined to comment after the hearing. The judge has restricted all of the lawyers in the case from speaking to reporters. The two men have been under home confinement since their first public court appearance on Oct. 30, when they each pleaded not guilty to a 12-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury.