Washington: Paul Manafort's request to suppress evidence taken by the FBI from a storage locker in Virginia was rejected by a federal judge in Washington.

In an opinion issued Thursday, Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled against Manafort's claim that because FBI agents had been allowed to look inside his storage locker before applying for their search warrant in May of last year, his right to protection from unlawful search and seizure had been violated, and therefore the evidence obtained through the warrant was "tainted."

Paul Manafort Credit:AP

Manafort was Donald Trump's campaign manager until he was forced to step down in August 2016 amid concerns for his past lobbying for Russia-aligned Ukrainian oligarchs.

Berman said the FBI agents didn't need a warrant to enter the storage locker since a Manafort employee gave them permission to look around. The agents saw boxes and a filing cabinet but didn't open them until after they got a search warrant.