In response to the Trump campaign’s ouster of chairman Paul Manafort, the Hillary Clinton campaign is demanding that the Republican nominee discloses his Kremlin ties to U.S. voters. In recent years, Manafort served as senior advisor to former President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine, who was ousted in 2014 after rejecting a treaty with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russian Federation. Trump went on to say he appreciated Manafort’s work on the campaign and wished him great success.
Advertisement
“I think my father didn’t want to be, you know, distracted by whatever things Paul was dealing with”, Eric Trump said.
The change was seen as a demotion for campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who has been pushing Trump, among other changes, to use a teleprompter when he gives speeches as a way to stay on message – and not ad-lib himself into saying something offensive or wrong.
Of course, none of this was a surprise following yesterday’s campaign “shake-up” that resulted in brand new campaign executives. The allegations were first made in The New York Times on Monday.
“Despite today’s latest staff shake-up, Donald Trump’s campaign still maintains strong ties to Russian Federation and pro-Kremlin elements”.
The Trump campaign said Friday that Rick Gates, Manafort’s deputy, would now serve as its liaison to the Republican National Committee.
Despite the Trump campaign insisting Manafort’s position had not changed when Bannon came on board and Conway was promoted, it was not clear how or why the three would work in such similar positions.
In May, Manafort took on a new role as campaign chairman and chief strategist. “Manafort has been beating back reports from multiple media outlets in recent days over his ethics, which have been egged on by a Clinton campaign eager to highlight Trump’s ties to the Kremlin”.
Hours earlier, Trump admitted that he “regretted” the pain some of his remarks throughout the year might have caused. The Aug. 14-18 online poll showed that Clinton was supported by 42 percent of Americans who are expected to vote, compared with 34 percent for Trump.
But Manafort also became a source of continuing controversy for the campaign in his own right. Manafort has denied receiving any off-the-books payments from pro-Russia Ukrainian groups.
The final stretch of the protracted campaign traditionally starts after Labor Day, which falls on September 5 this year. “It’s just the beginning”, Mook said in a statement.
Advertisement
“The money was transferred in cash and it is impossible to trace the transactions, but I have no doubt as to the authenticity of these documents”, he said.
