Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Is Donald Trump's Campaign Manager Still on the Payroll of a Ukrainian Political Leader?

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/donald-trumps-campaign-manager-still-ukrainian-payroll
"As the Times detailed, Manafort—who has a lengthy history of helping dictators and strongmen rehab their reputations—once represented Ukraine's former President Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian politician with ties to Vladimir Putin who fled Ukraine in 2014 as demonstrations and uprisings raged in the country. But Manafort's work in Ukraine didn't end with Yanukovych's ouster. He subsequently went to work for Serhiy Lyovochkin, Yanukovych's former chief of staff, to revitalize Yanukovych's beleaguered political party. The Times reported this intriguing detail near the end of its article: It is not clear that Mr. Manafort's work in Ukraine ended with his work with Mr. Trump's campaign. A communications aide for Mr. Lyovochkin, who financed Mr. Manafort's work, declined to say whether he was still on retainer or how much he had been paid. Hope Hicks, Trump's spokeswoman, did not respond immediately to questions about whether Manafort is currently involved in any work related to Ukrainian politics. If Manafort does have active ties to Lyovochkin or other Ukrainian politicians, this would raise conflict-of-interest questions and fuel the controversy surrounding Trump's foreign policy stance on Russia and his relationship with Putin."