Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort has resigned from his position on the campaign, the Republican presidential nominee said in a statement Friday.
Advertisement
On Wednesday, the Trump campaign announced that former Breitbart News executive chair Stephen Bannon would serve as CEO and pollster Kellyanne Conway would be promoted to campaign manager.
Trump initially recruited Manafort, who formerly advised Ukrainian ex-president Viktor Yanukovych and lobbied for foreign dictators, to head off in March what was then a potentially contested Republican convention.
Trump earlier today said in a statement that Manafort offered his resignation. On Monday, in response to an earlier media report that carried the allegations, he issued a statement in which he said he had “never received a single “off-the-books cash payment” as “reported” by the ‘The New York Times, ‘ nor have I ever done work for the governments of Ukraine or Russian Federation”.
The shakeup comes less than three months to the election in November. And The Associated Press reports how Manafort may have directly orchestrated a lobbying operation to sway American public opinion for Ukraine’s pro-Russian government.
In one speech, Trump even expressed “regret” for some of the more egregious things he’s said on the campaign trail.
Handwritten ledgers, unearthed late last week by Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau, revealed previously undisclosed cash payments of $12.7 million apparently intended for Manafort. The announcement of the changes said Manafort would stay on as chairman of the campaign.
Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, said in a statement that Trump’s connection to Russian Federation did not end with Manafort leaving the campaign.
Just a few days ago, Manafort saw his official role in the campaign diminished after Trump shook up his staff. “I have done that, and believe it or not I regret it”, Trump said.
A source within the campaign told CNN that “Manafort told Trump he was becoming a distraction and he wanted to end that”. Throughout the campaign, Trump has generally refused to apologize for remarks viewed as insensitive or insulting.
Advertisement
Manafort is the second major departure within the campaign since Lewandowski left in June.
