Paul Manafort in solitary confinement in Manhattan prison

Paul Manafort is holed up in solitary confinement at a Manhattan prison — and he’s expected to remain at the lockup as his mortgage-fraud case plays out, his lawyer and the Department of Justice said Tuesday.

The president’s former campaign manager was recently transferred to the Metropolitan Correctional Center to await arraignment on state crimes.

“My expectation is he won’t remain there [in solitary]. For a couple days when you’re being processed, they keep you in solitary,” Manafort’s lawyer Todd Blanche told The Post on Tuesday. “I’m hopeful the MCC will have a location for him that’s not solitary.”

Manafort, 70, is serving a more than seven-year sentence on federal tax fraud, bank fraud and other charges stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

The longtime Republican operative, who had been behind bars at FCI Loretto in Pennsylvania prior to his transfer, faces similar charges in an indictment filed by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance in March.

It’s unclear when his arraignment will take place.

Vance and Blanche had been duking it out over whether Manafort would be kept in state or federal custody pending the New York case — with Blanche requesting that his client remain at Loretto, citing “health challenges,” according to a letter he sent to the prison’s warden, Vicky Moser.

That letter was forwarded to the DOJ — prompting Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to intervene.

“The Department requested the views of New York prosecutors, who did not object to Mr. Manafort’s proposal,” a DOJ spokesman told NBC News on Tuesday. “In light of New York’s position, and Mr. Manafort’s unique health and safety needs, the Department determined to err on the side of caution by keeping Mr. Manafort in federal custody during the pendency of his state proceeding.”

The spokesman added that Manafort “will be made available to the state whenever needed for his state case” and that “the arrangement will not have any impact on his state proceedings.”

Manafort was being housed at FCI Loretto in Pennsylvania prior to his transfer to the MCC, which houses other notable inmates like Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Blanche is fighting the state charges, arguing double jeopardy.

“This is politics at its worst,” the lawyer wrote in his letter to Moser.

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