Paul Manafort could be called many things but dead would not be one of them.

Manafort’s name no longer comes up in a search of the inmate database on the Northern Neck Regional Jail website. This doesn’t mean he killed himself or was stuck with a shiv in the showers. It doesn’t mean Manafort has escaped and fled to Russia nor that he’s been secretly pardoned. He hasn’t been drugged and caged in a baby camp for migrants either, though I like that idea. Manafort’s name no longer comes up in an inmate search of the Northern Neck Regional Jail website. And that’s it. Period.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered Manafort to be held in jail until the first of his two trials begins in July, so that’s just where he is, despite rumors and speculation coming from the fringe Left and Right. A search using his inmate number 45343 shows him still located at the Northern Neck facility. His name has been removed from the system but he hasn’t been removed from the jail.

If a purpose for the name removal must be had, it might lie with Judge Berman Jackson’s orders given on Thursday, June 21st. The judge directed that Manafort be kept away from all other inmates as much as possible. Don’t let the VIP designation fool you, Manafort isn’t housed in a luxury suite, the VIP designation means it’s a self contained unit which keeps him separate from other inmates. The idea of Manafort’s incarceration is to prevent him from communicating with anyone other than his lawyers.

But whatever. Manafort’s still in jail.