According to a report out this morning by the AP, Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort helped pro-Russian effort in Ukraine secretly route $2.2 million to lobbying firms in Washington.
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According to The New York Times’ article, investigators from NABU-a us and European Union funded investigative unit that shares its findings with the FBI-said the “black ledger” payments were part of an illegal off-the-books system. He denied ever receiving an “off-the-books cash payment” or having worked for the Ukrainian or Russian governments.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign is questioning the ties a top political aide to Donald Trump had to a pro-Kremlin political party in Ukraine, claiming it is further evidence of the Republican nominee’s cozy relationship with Russian Federation. It is well known that I do work in the United States and have done work on overseas campaigns as well. He added that all payments received during his time assisting Yanukovych were disbursed throughout his entire local and global staff, including his polling and research, and election and television advertising teams.
“The simplest answer is the truth: I am a campaign professional, ” said Manafort in a statement released Monday.
He added that his five-year stint as doing work as a political consultant in Ukraine ended after that country’s elections in 2014.
The anti-corruption officials said the handwritten ledgers that disclosed the cash payments did not make clear whether Manafort actually received the payments.
It was also announced Tuesday morning that while Manafort was retaining his title as Trump campaign chairman, Breitbart News executive chairman Stephen Bannon would become the Trump campaign’s new chief executive. He tweeted out a link to the Times report late Sunday, and discussed the controversial story on “New Day” on CNN Monday.
Paul Manafort is becoming an outsized liability within the #Donald Trump campaign for president, as more news leaks out in drips.
“Number one, Paul says there was no money received”. Trump has virtually endorsed the Russian annexation of Crimea, has suggested that America should let Russia solve the Syria problem, has stated that he is not firmly committed to American and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation defense of Europe if Russia invades, and has engaged in a bromance, exchanging mutual praise with Putin, which is one of the strangest and most self-destructive actions in the history of presidential politics.
Manafort also has a decades-long relationship with Trump, having lobbied for the GOP nominee on gambling and real estate issues.
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But Robby Mook, Mrs Clinton’s campaign manager, said: “We have learned of more troubling connections between Donald Trump’s team and pro-Kremlin elements in Ukraine”.
