NY Times Writes Piece Suggesting Top Trump Aide Paul Manafort Is In Russia's Pocket; Manafort Fires Right Back
NY Times — On a leafy side street off Independence Square in Kiev is an office used for years by Donald J. Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, when he consulted for Ukraine’s ruling political party. His furniture and personal items were still there as recently as May.
And Mr. Manafort’s presence remains elsewhere here in the capital, where government investigators examining secret records have found his name, as well as companies he sought business with, as they try to untangle a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort’s main client, former President Viktor F. Yanukovych.
Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.
I guess I’ll be the first to point out that Russia is making the global villain comeback of the century. They’re everywhere right now. If it weren’t for ISIS they’d be public enemy no. 1 in a landslide. They’re run by a KGB agent. They’re invading allies left and right. They’re hacking every single thing that’s ever digitally touched Hillary Clinton (overwhelming favorite to be our next president). They’re harboring Snowden. They’re cheating in the Olympics. I mean if Yulia Efimova here isn’t the antagonist in the next Bond film color me SHOCKED.
It’s the return of the Cold War Soviet Union and now, on top of all that, are they in Trump’s top aide’s pocket?
Well here’s the deal. This New York Times piece detailing Manafort’s financial ties to pro-Russian leaders in Ukraine came out Sunday night. It’s about 2 billion words long so let me boil it down for you.
Manafort was a political consultant in Kiev, Ukraine for a long time. And Kiev, Ukraine — for a long time — has been a corrupt place. With corrupt leadership. And corrupt power structures, many of which trace back to Russia and pro-Putin officials.
Manafort’s main client, former Ukrainian President Viktor F. Yanukovych, represented the Party of Regions. They are pro-Russian. Yanukovych and his crew won several elections with the help of Manafort, despite being unpopular and considered quite sketchy and corrupt, living lavish lifestyles with private zoos and shit.
After Yanukovych was overthrown and chased to Russia by a popular uprising years ago, a secret money ledger was found in the former party’s headquarters. Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau released that ledger, on which Manafort’s name appears 22 times over 5 years for a total of $12.7 million in off-the-books payments. This would mean massive amounts of unreported, corrupt compensation from pro-Russians to Trump’s top aide.
What the entire saga lacks is this: Proof that Manafort received any such payments. He responded to the claims yesterday, adamantly denying he received any such thing and scolding the NY Times:
Fair points. If he was paid millions of dollars, good chance that was in compensation for ALL services. He is, after all, a political consultant. That shit’s a science these days and science requires a shit ton of money. Just ask NASA. Staff, polling, research, etc ain’t free. The problem essentially comes down to was Manafort paid off the books, with unreported funds, linking him to widespread corruption in Ukraine/Russia?
Who knows. If yes, that’s not good. He denies it and there’s not yet proof he was ever paid anything. Other journalists have threatened “it’s about to get worse” for Manafort, so we’ll see.
You know what this IS proof of? Putin’s ability to keep Russia relevant. It’s the US presidential election but every week Russia’s in the mix. Those fuckers aren’t going anywhere. Romney was right.
PS – If you’re hiring a guy whose experience includes political consultant for a pro-Russian, Ukrainian president in Kiev you pretty much have to expect he’s made millions in undocumented cash right? Like he’d be a shitty consultant if he hadn’t. Trump 100% knows about all this and could not possibly care less.