Ukrainian authorities have released details of payments worth million of dollars that U.S. presidential campaign hopeful Donald Trump’s campaign chief allegedly received from Kiev’s former Russian-backed leaders.
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“I am very appreciative for his great work in helping to get us where we are today”, he added.
Stephen Bannon, the executive chairman for Breitbart News, is the new campaign CEO, while pollster and consultant Kellyanne Conway is now campaign manager.
After warring behind the scenes for months with Lewandowski, who had little regard for Manafort, Lewandoswki was sacked earlier this summer.
Manafort, as a 26-year-old Republican operative, helped manage the 1976 convention floor for Gerald Ford in his successful showdown with Ronald Reagan.
Manafort is stepping down in the wake of a campaign shake-up, as well as revelations about his work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.
The lobbying included attempts to gain positive press coverage of Ukrainian officials in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press.
“Paul Manafort’s resignation is a clear admission that the disturbing connections between Donald Trump’s team and pro-Kremlin elements in Russian Federation and Ukraine are untenable”, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement.
Trump’s son, Eric Trump, said unflattering headlines about Manafort were taking a toll.
In a previous shake-up, Manafort, who first joined the team in March, took over the running of the campaign from Corey Lewandowski, who was sacked as campaign manager in June. Manafort’s role had been diminished, and Bannon is expected to encourage Trump to embrace the hyper-aggressive attitude that won him the primary.
The moves were seen as a de facto demotion for Manafort, even though the campaign stressed that he was keeping his position.
In a statement, the Republican party candidate called Manafort a “true professional” saying he appreciated his great work, but there may have been a clash of personalities as Manafort tried -unsuccessfully – to reign in Trump’s freewheeling campaigning style.
“You can get rid of Manafort, but that doesn’t end the odd bromance Trump has with Putin”, Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, said in a statement.
Mercury’s founder, Vin Weber, an influential Republican and former congressman, told the AP that his firm was aware of Manafort’s and Gates’ affiliation with Ukraine’s political party and said Gates never participated in Mercury’s lobbying work. Russian officials have rejected that accusation.
Manafort had been brought in initially at Kushner’s urging, the source said. The investigation is looking at the work of Manafort’s firm and another lobbying firm, the Podesta Group, headed by Tony Podesta, whose brother, John Podesta, is chairman of Clinton’s presidential campaign.
“Too many cooks in the kitchen”, Feehery said.
Trump flew into MI later on Friday to address a rally, explaining his appearance in an open-necked shirt and trucker hat by saying he had come straight from “a tour of the suffering and devastation in Louisiana”.
Karlyn Bowman, a senior fellow and research coordinator at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, said Trump still had some time to turn around his campaign, noting the news came as many Americans were enjoying summer vacations.
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“I’m not sure the public pays a lot of attention to inside campaign stories”, she said.
