Corey Lewandowski, the former campaign manager for Donald Trump, says his replacement, Paul Manafort, is being unfairly smeared in a New York Times article which purports to show he had shady business dealings in Ukraine.
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The New York Times reported Sunday that Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort could have received $12.7 million in undisclosed cash from Ukraine’s pro-Russian political party.
The Times did not determine whether or not Manafort actually received the listed cash payments. According to the Times, Manafort continued working after Yanukovych’s removal from office, “helping allies of the ousted president and others form a political bloc that opposed the new pro-Western administration”.
Indeed, the $35 million figure from just this one Clinton-backed deal dwarfs the roughly $12 million The New York Times alleges Manafort was paid by Ukrainian officials – never mind the fact there is no connection to Trump whatsoever.
Paul Manafort’s name was recorded in a so-called “black ledger”, a log of under-the-table payments from Yanukovych’s political party to hundreds of people, including government officials, investigators said, according to Darya Manzhura, a spokeswoman for the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. The details were uncovered by Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau that is trying to piece together the vast network of corruption that the previous government used to essentially loot the state.
He called for Trump to disclose all of his advisers and campaign employees ties to Russian or pro-Kremlin entities. “I just say this way, wouldn’t it be great if the United States and Russian Federation got along, combined, knocked out ISIS, maybe did other positive things?” In a statement, he called the claims “unfounded, silly and nonsensical”. “This is not discussed despite the overwhelming evidence in emails that Hillary Clinton attempted to cover up”, the statement said.
He added that his five-year stint as a political consultant in Ukraine ended after that country’s elections in 2014. Investigators did not specify the reason the money was designated for Manafort from 2007 to 2012.
“He’s running his country, and at least he’s a leader, unlike what we have in this country”, Trump said. The anti-corruption bureau cannot make indictments but must pass on any evidence to prosecutors, who can decide whether to file charges.
In Ukraine, Manafort navigated around the egos of tycoons and politicians; he hammered out a message that was part economic, part tribal; and he shepherded campaigns through rocky times. This revelation, coupled with Trump-directed changes to the Republican Platform that softened language critical of Russia, Donald Trump’s willingness to consider abandoning our North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies, and Russian hacking of Democrats should make us ask “Who would Donald Trump be serving as President?”
While Trump sings Putin’s praises, it is well-documented that the Kremlin under Putin is responsible for serious human rights violations and has increasingly restricted freedom of expression for government critics and independent media.
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Trump’s message on ISIS blunted today by new questions over his campaign chairman’s business ties to Ukraine.
