Paul Manafort, convicted felon pardoned by Trump, has backed away from his role advising the Republican National Convention.
Paul Manafort, convicted and pardoned felon, has quit his again-unpaid role as advisor to the Republican National Convention.
“As a longtime, staunch supporter of President Trump and given my nearly 50 years experience in managing presidential conventions, I was offering my advice and suggestions to the Trump campaign on the upcoming convention in a volunteer capacity,” Mr. Manafort told The Times, in a statement provided by the Trump campaign.
“However, it is clear that the media wants to use me as a distraction to try and harm President Trump and his campaign by recycling old news,” he said.
Washington Post (gift link) has some new news: Manafort is now working for China instead of Russia. And he’s been trying to hook up with Japan, South Korea, and Guatemala.
The old news is that the one change that the Trump campaign worked successfully to get in the 2016 Republican platform was to kill an amendment in support of Ukraine against Russia.
Here's the DNC's response and a reminder about who Trump continues to surround himself with: Fraudster Paul Manafort is Far From the Only Crook, Convict, and Conspiracy Theorist in Trump’s Inner Orbit :
Following today’s announcement that convicted fraudster Paul Manafort had been involved in GOP convention efforts and would now “support President Trump every other way [he] can,” DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:
“Paul Manafort isn’t the first convicted felon to have a prominent role in Donald Trump’s orbit – and he certainly won’t be the last. Today’s announcement only underscores just how many convicts, cranks, and conspiracy theorists have been given top-billing within Trump’s disaster of a campaign. From delusional conspiracy theorists and convicted felons like Roger Stone to creeps with battery and assault charges like Corey Lewandowski, it’s clear that Trump’s campaign and the RNC are the place to be for unemployable lowlifes.”
Paul Manafort confirmed he was “offering my advice and suggestions to the Trump campaign on the upcoming convention” – before stepping back to “support President Trump every other way I can” after fresh reporting on his work lobbying for foreign corporations with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
New York Times: “Paul Manafort, the longtime Republican strategist and chairman of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign, who had assumed an unpaid role advising party officials on the nominating convention, stepped aside on Saturday after questions arose about his involvement in the convention’s planning process.
“Mr. Manafort’s move came after The New York Times reported that he had been on the ground in Milwaukee last week for planning meetings for the convention, as well as a Washington Post story that said he was involved in work connected to foreign officials and businesses.”
[…]
“Mr. Manafort, who helped stave off efforts to thwart Mr. Trump’s nomination at the 2016 convention, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for various financial crimes, including tax evasion, bank fraud, and money laundering — unrelated to the 2016 campaign — before being pardoned by Mr. Trump before he left office.”
Washington Post: “With his freedom, Manafort hardly retired to a quiet home life. Instead, the longtime power broker — briefly brought low by the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election — reengaged in international consulting, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post and people familiar with his activities who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.
“Manafort has been assisting an effort to launch a Netflix-like mobile streaming and entertainment platform in China that, according to corporate documents, has the endorsement of the Chinese government.”
Trump can’t stop surrounding himself with election deniers, conspiracy theorists, and convicted felons.
Only the best people. Read the rest of their response on the likes of Corey Lewandowski, Roger Stone and others that remain in Trump's inner circle.
