Donald Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, quit on Friday amid a flurry of reports that he may have received undisclosed cash payments from a Ukraine political party.
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In a statement, Trump says Manafort offered his resignation Friday morning. When Lewandowski was sacked in June, Manafort attempted to rein in some of Trump’s most controversial actions.
In just three sentences, Eric Trump included eight “you knows”. “What you see is what you get”. Lewandowski’s problems dealing with outside groups like the RNC had prevented the two organizations from working together to create a joint fundraising apparatus and a robust voter turnout program, two key elements of a campaign that Trump eschewed during the primary.
Lewandowski, who was sacked by Trump in June, drew a puzzling parallel to make his point, arguing that in 2004, John Kerry was also making staff changes as the election approached. “I have done that”, the GOP nominee said.
The departure from Trump’s team did not surprise political consultants. He boastfully retweeted a message from a political journalist just moments after the announcement: “Lewandowski is winning so much even he may get exhausted of winning”. Lewandowski stayed in communication with Trump, but had to settle for a CNN contributorship.
Manafort and Gates have previously said they were not doing work that required them to notify the Justice Department. Reports cited tension between Manafort and Lewandowski as a central reason the latter was cut from the campaign in June.
Whether Manafort stepped down voluntarily (maybe he didn’t want to be associated with a likely defeat) or was pushed out (he was at the center of many ongoing controversies and wasn’t leading the operation to success) is, at least for now, unclear.
Gates directed the Washington lobbying firms to set up meetings between a top Ukrainian official and senators and congressmen on influential committees involving Ukrainian interests.
Under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act, people who lobby on behalf of foreign political figures or political parties must provide detailed reports about their actions to the Justice Department’s counterespionage unit. Trump said he’d consider recognizing Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, and raised alarm in eastern Europe in July by saying that the USA would only defend North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies against a possible Russian attack if those nations “have fulfilled their obligations to us”.
He also said that he won’t be involved in Trump’s visit, saying Thursday that the Republican candidate is welcome to come to the state, “but not for a photo-op”.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Charlotte.
Manafort’s work in Ukraine had been known, a New York Times article this month had exposed the extent of his involvement and fuelled questions about the Trump campaign’s possible pro-Russian sympathies.
Trump, in a statement, praised Manafort’s work on the campaign and called him a “true professional”. “You can get rid of Manafort, but that doesn’t end the odd bromance Trump has with Putin”.
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Manafort had presided over a period in which Trump had fallen behind in opinion poll numbers in the race against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for the November 8 election.
