Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Paul Manafort's Ties to Vladimir Putin Again Under Scrutiny

Manafort and Trump
As Der Trumpenführer and his henchmen/women and Congressional Republican apologists continue to lie and dissemble in vain efforts to (i) change the topic from Russia and possible treason, and (ii) find some sort of flimsy backing for Trump's lie that Barack Obama had "wiretapped" Trump Tower,. Meanwhile, additional damaging information continues to spill forth that keeps the discussion where it needs to be: Trump/Russia ties, possible Russian money laundering and Trump/Pence collusion with a hostile foreign regime.  Among those finding themselves exposed is the always sleazy Paul Manafort, Der Trumpenführer's former campaign manager.  As with previous reports, the latest news revolves are multi-million dollar payments to Manafort that are said to have made payments for actions/propaganda that benefited the regime of Vladimir Putin.  With ongoing investigations, The Independent suggests that the efforts to uncover the truth are far from over (even as Congressional Republicans conspire to aid Trump).  Here are highlights from the The Independent piece:
Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman once secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to advance Vladimir Putin’s interests, leaked documents have claimed.
Paul Manafort allegedly proposed an ambitious political strategy to undermine anti-Russian opposition across former Soviet republics, despite claims from the Trump administration that he never worked in the Kremlin’s interests.
In 2005, Mr Manfort proposed a confidential strategy to influence politics, business and news coverage in the US and across Europe amid worsening relations between George W Bush’s government and Russia.
Mr Manafort signed a $10m (£8m) annual contract with Mr Deripaska’s firm beginning in 2006, business records obtained by the Associated Press, and the pair reportedly maintained a business relationship until at least 2009. 
Mr Manafort signed a $10m (£8m) annual contract with Mr Deripaska’s firm beginning in 2006, business records obtained by the Associated Press, and the pair reportedly maintained a business relationship until at least 2009. 
James Comey, the director of the FBI, declined to say whether Mr Manafort was a target when questioned in Congress, while his name was mentioned 28 times during a House Intelligence Committee hearing.

NPR has a very good overview of new evidence against Manafort.  Obviously, these new facts directly contradict the denials of Manafort - and Trump - that date back as far as July, 2016.   

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