Paul Manafort has resigned as chairman of the Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, effective Friday morning. “He helped us get through the primary process, he helped us get through the convention, he did a great job with the delegates”, Trump said.
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“This morning, Paul Manafort offered, and I accepted, his resignation from the campaign”, said Trump in a statement released by his campaign.
A source within the campaign told CNN that “Manafort told Trump he was becoming a distraction and he wanted to end that”.
They show it directly orchestrated a covert Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine’s ruling political party, attempting to sway American public opinion in favor of the country’s pro-Russian government. It’s also time for Donald Trump to come clean on his own business dealings with Russian interests, given recent news reports about his web of deep financial connections to business groups with Kremlin ties. On Wednesday, Trump named Breitbart News’ Stephen Bannon as his campaign CEO and Kellyanne Conway as his campaign manager.
Manafort, who only took control of Trump’s campaign after former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was sacked in June, did not appear concerned by this week’s appointments.
Mr Manafort denies claims he received cash payments worth more than $12m over five years that were itemised on secret ledgers.
Trump announced Manafort’s departure in a short statement emailed to reporters.
His role in the Republican’s campaign had been significantly reduced this week after the shake-up in Trump’s camp.
“It had to happen”, said Republican consultant Bruce Haynes, founding partner of Washington-based Purple Strategies, “The revelations about the Ukranian involvement put the consultant in a position where he was overshadowing the campaign and choking its ability to delver its message”.
Manafort’s exit comes amid a tumultuous month for Trump, one marked by more self-inflicted controversy and a sharp decline in national and battleground state polls.
It’s unclear which of his inflammatory statements Trump was referring to, but he said he particularly regretted statements that “may have caused personal pain”.
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The Hillary Clinton campaign on Friday brushed off the resignation of a top strategist to Donald Trump, contending that the move would not extinguish the “bromance” the billionaire allegedly has with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
