Controversy surrounding Manafort’s ties to pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians coincided with his resignation Friday as Trump’s campaign manager. “Paul is a true professional and I wish him the greatest success”, Trump said in a statement.
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Paul Manafort, the chairman of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign who has been linked to a pro-Russia lobbying scandal, has resigned.
Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway for U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks to the media at Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of NY, U.S., August 17, 2016.
His departure clears the way for Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon to assume full control of day-to-day operations, after he was appointed chief executive alongside new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway on Wednesday.
The New York Times reported on secret ledgers revealing that the political party of Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Manafort used to advise, was to send Manafort $12.7 million in cash payments.
“It had to happen”, said Republican consultant Bruce Haynes, founding partner of Washington-based Purple Strategies, “The revelations about the Ukranian involvement put the consultant in a position where he was overshadowing the campaign and choking its ability to delver its message”.
It is now being claimed he secretly routed at least $2.2 million to two Washington lobbying firms, which would be illegal under United States law.
In an interview with Fox News Friday, Trump’s son Eric said that Manafort “was awesome”, but his father didn’t want to be “distracted by whatever things Paul was dealing with”. He’s repeatedly drawn fire for levying intensely personal attacks on figures like Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing the Trump University lawsuit, and Khizr Khan, a Muslim who condemned Trump at the Democratic National Convention. The unexpected reshuffling of campaign leadership earlier this week apparently led to a decrease in his control, a similar story to that of Corey Lewandowski who Manafort reportedly ousted earlier this year.
The Republican nominee said that in the heat of speaking in public or in a debate, he might not be able to choose the right words to say especially when he’s talking about different issues at a time.
Those who back Trump say, 81 percent to 11 percent, that life is worse now for U.S. citizens than it was 50 years ago.
“I think Donald Trump ought to really investigate this and where his chief adviser, what his association with the Russians are”, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of IL told CNN’s Jake Tapper earlier this week.
Manafort first joined the campaign as an unpaid advisor in March after Trump had been repeatedly outmaneuvered in the delegation selection process by rival Ted Cruz.
The New York billionaire’s multiple self-inflicted wounds of late have left him trailing in virtually every battleground state.
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The AP, citing sources with direct knowledge of the effort, said the transfers were set up in ways to obscure the Ukrainian party’s attempts to sway US policies, using a nonprofit organization to distance funds from Ukrainian politicians.
