A US judge has ordered indicted former Trump campaign advisers Paul Manafort and Richard Gates to remain under home arrest, rejecting for now their pleas for less stringent bail conditions.
US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson also sharply warned lawyers for the duo not to speak about their case outside of court.
"This is a criminal trial and not a public relations campaign," Jackson said during a hearing on Thursday.
Manafort, 68, who served several months as Trump's campaign manager, and Gates, 45, who also worked on the Republican's campaign, pleaded not guilty on Monday to a 12-count indictment, which included charges of conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy against the United States and failing to register as foreign agents of Ukraine's former pro-Russian government.
A conviction on conspiracy to launder money alone could carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
In a filing with the court on Thursday, Manafort's lawyer, Kevin Downing, argued that the government's case against his client is flimsy and that the bail conditions should be softened because Manafort does not pose a flight risk.
Gates' lawyers made a similar request to the court.
But Jackson said initial bail terms for both men would remain in place for now, and set a bail hearing for Monday to consider changes.
Manafort and Gates are under house arrest, under unsecured bonds of $US10 million ($A14 million) and $US5 million, respectively. Prosecutors have argued there is a risk the men would flee.
In a related development, Sam Clovis, a top adviser to Trump during his election campaign, on Thursday withdrew his candidacy for a senior administration post, just days after he was linked to another aide who pleaded guilty in the probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
In a letter to Trump describing his decision, Clovis made no mention of the Russia controversy, but cited "the political climate inside Washington".
Trump had nominated Clovis, his campaign's national co-chairman, to a top post as chief scientist at the Department of Agriculture.
A source familiar with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation identified Clovis as the unnamed campaign supervisor in a court filing who had discussions with Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos about efforts to improve US-Russian relations and setting up meetings between senior Trump campaign and Russian officials.
Papadopoulos pleaded guilty earlier this month to lying to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents about his dealings with Russians.
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