Trump announced Friday on Twitter he accepted Manafort’s resignation, though he did not say why.
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Manafort, who resigned as chairman of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign on Friday, had not been the focus of the probe, CNN said, citing the officials.
Those revelations included an Associated Press report from Thursday, which revealed Manafort’s firm orchestrated a covert USA lobbying operation on the party’s behalf.
Gates – who has been working under Manafort as a deputy on the Trump campaign – will remain on the political team, taking over as the campaign’s liaison to the RNC, Trump Communications Advisor Jason Miller said.
Trump added that “Paul is a true professional and I wish him the greatest success”.
It continued: “When the Centre became a client, it certified in writing that ‘none of the activities of the Centre are directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed or subsidized in whole or in part by a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party.’ We relied on that certification and advice from counsel in registering and reporting under the Lobbying Disclosure Act rather than the Foreign Agents Registration Act”.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook today called Manafort’s resignation a “clear admission” of Manafort’s ties to Russian Federation.
In East Baton Rouge Parish, residents emerged from their waterlogged homes to wave at Trump’s motorcade, some with gloved hands dirty from their house-gutting work.
Trump asked questions about the extent of the damage and thanked volunteers for their efforts. It shows weakness, they theorize, and weakness is bad when you are trying to get someone elected president of the United States.
Paul Manafort’s departure leaves the campaign under the guidance of the new chief executive Stephen K. Bannon, previously at Breitbart News, as well as Kellyanne Conway, the veteran pollster being named campaign manager earlier this week.
Trump shook up his campaign leadership, launched television ads, gave one of the best speeches of his candidacy and visited flood-ravaged Louisiana.
Trump’s trip was a striking detour for a candidate who has largely stuck to boisterous rallies and phone-in interviews to appeal to voters.
The move came just days after the Republican made two keys appointments to his team and then issued his first ever apology over controversial remarks he has made. “I have done that”, the GOP nominee said. “I regret it”, he said, “particularly where it may have caused personal pain”.
The tone was a shift from the night earlier, when Trump expressed rare regret for some of his more caustic comments – although he did not say which ones. Last month, he invited Russian hackers to find “missing” emails from Clinton’s time as secretary of state, when she used a private email server to conduct government business, although he later described that call as sarcasm.
Also Friday, Trump started airing his first ads of the general election after moving a day earlier to invest almost $5 million in battleground state advertising.
Clinton, by contrast, has spent more than $75 million on advertising in 10 states since locking up her party’s nomination.
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Lewandowski said Friday the most recent personnel moves show Trump is serious about winning the presidency and will do anything he can to get the campaign back on track. Right is Eric’s wife Lara Yunaska.
