Tag: Paul Manafort

Upstairs at home, with the TV on, Trump fumes over Russia indictments

The following article by Robert Costa, Philip Rucker and Ashley Parker was posted on the Washington Post website October 30, 2017:

Credit: Getty/Jessica Kourkounis/Chip Somodevilla/Mireia Triguero Roura

President Trump woke before dawn on Monday and burrowed in at the White House residence to wait for the Russia bombshell he knew was coming.

Separated from most of his West Wing staff — who fretted over why he was late getting to the Oval Office — Trump clicked on the television and spent the morning playing fuming media critic, legal analyst and crisis communications strategist, according to several people close to him.

The president digested the news of the first indictments in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe with exasperation and disgust, these people said. He called his lawyers repeatedly. He listened intently to cable news commentary. And, with rising irritation, he watched live footage of his onetime campaign adviser and confidant, Paul Manafort, turning himself in to the FBI. Continue reading “Upstairs at home, with the TV on, Trump fumes over Russia indictments”

Mueller’s moves send message to other potential targets: Beware, I’m coming

The following article by Devlin Barrett, Sari Horwitz and Ellen Nakashima was posted on the Washington Post website October 30, 2017:

President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Manafort’s former business associate Rick Gates and Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos have all been charged in the special counsel’s investigation into Russian election interference. (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post)

With the guilty plea of one Trump campaign official and a 31-page indictment of two others, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III spoke volumes more about the Russia probe than months of heated public debate. Without uttering a word, Mueller’s message was clear, according to veteran lawyers: He isn’t bluffing, and witnesses are talking.

The double-barreled court filings ratchet up the pressure on everyone under scrutiny in the investigation, lawyers said, in part because they show that a former Trump campaign adviser began cooperating with the FBI three months ago. Continue reading “Mueller’s moves send message to other potential targets: Beware, I’m coming”

What’s in the Indictment Against Manafort?

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website October 30, 2017:

Trump, on the floor of the Republican National Convention in July in Cleveland. He was indicted for unrelated work on Monday. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump breaks silence, says probe should focus on Hillary Clinton

The federal government’s case against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and a longtime business associate is, for now, focused solely on their activities before going to work for Donald Trump.

The counts include conspiracy against the United States, money laundering and other ones related to their private business dealings. They are the first individuals charged in the Justice Department’s investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

But those expecting special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, a former FBI director, to file initial charges alleging Manafort and right-hand man Rick Gates colluded with the Kremlin during the 2016 campaign will find nothing of the sort in the indictment that was unsealed and released as Manafort was turning himself in at a FBI office in Washington. Continue reading “What’s in the Indictment Against Manafort?”

Three former Trump campaign officials charged by special counsel

The following article by Matt Zapotosky, Rosalind S. Helderman, Carol D Leonnig and Spencer S. HSu was posted on the Washington Post website October 30, 2017:

President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Manafort’s former business associate Rick Gates and Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos have all been charged in the special counsel’s investigation into Russian election interference. (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post)

Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III on Monday revealed charges against three former Trump campaign officials — including onetime campaign chairman Paul Manafort — marking the first criminal allegations to come from probes into possible Russian influence in U.S. political affairs.

The charges are striking for their breadth, touching all levels of the Trump campaign and exploring the possible personal, financial wrongdoing of those involved, as well as what appeared to be a concerted effort by one campaign official to arrange a meeting with Russian officials. Continue reading “Three former Trump campaign officials charged by special counsel”

Manafort Had $60 Million Relationship With a Russian Oligarch

The following article by Aggelos Petropoulos and Richard Engel was posted on the NNBC News website October 13, 2017:

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks with Oleg Deripaska, head of “The base element” company at the International Investment Forum in Sochi on Sept. 19, 2008. ILIA PITALEV / AFP-Getty Images file

LONDON — Paul Manafort, a former campaign manager for President Donald Trump, has much stronger financial ties to a Russian oligarch than have been previously reported.

An NBC News investigation reveals that $26 million changed hands in the form of a loan between a company linked to Manafort and the oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, a billionaire with close ties to the Kremlin.

The loan brings the total of their known business dealings to around $60 million over the past decade, according to financial documents filed in Cyprus and the Cayman Islands.

Manafort was forced to resign from the Trump campaign in August 2016, following allegations of improper financial dealings, charges he has strenuously denied. He is now a central figure in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Investigators have said they are looking into Manafort’s financial ties to prominent figures in Russia. Continue reading “Manafort Had $60 Million Relationship With a Russian Oligarch”

‘How do we use [this] to get whole?’: The most intriguing new Paul Manafort-Russia email

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website September 20, 2017:

Donald Trump’s then-campaign chair Paul Manafort in July 2016. (Reuters/Carlo Allegri/File Photo)

This post has been updated.

The trouble Paul Manafort is in is still coming into focus. The latest development: emails he sent to a Ukraine-based employee of his consulting business talking about setting up a briefing with a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin.

The Washington Post’s Tom Hamburger, Rosalind S. Helderman, Carol D. Leonnig and Adam Entous just broke that big story, and it comes on the heels of a New York Times report this week that investigators have told Manafort they plan to indict him — apparently in hopes of getting him to flip on President Trump.

For me, though, the most intriguing email in The Post’s report is this one: Continue reading “‘How do we use [this] to get whole?’: The most intriguing new Paul Manafort-Russia email”

Manafort offered to give Russian billionaire ‘private briefings’ on 2016 campaign

The following article by Tom Hamburger, Rosalind S. Helderman, Carol D. Leonnig and Adam Entous was posted on the Washington Post website September 20, 2017:

Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, walks the floor at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 21, 2016. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)

Less than two weeks before Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination, his campaign chairman offered to provide briefings on the race to a Russian billionaire closely aligned with the Kremlin, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Paul Manafort made the offer in an email to an overseas intermediary, asking that a message be sent to Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate with whom Manafort had done business in the past, these people said.

“If he needs private briefings we can accommodate,” Manafort wrote in the July 7, 2016, email, portions of which were read to The Washington Post along with other Manafort correspondence from that time. Continue reading “Manafort offered to give Russian billionaire ‘private briefings’ on 2016 campaign”

Mueller casts broad net in requesting extensive records from Trump White House

The following article by Carol D. Leonnig and Rosalind S. Helderman was posted on the Washington Post website September 20, 2017:

President Trump has weighed in on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election time and time again. Here’s a look at how he can limit the probe, and what Congress is trying to do about it. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

The special counsel investigating Russian election meddling has requested extensive records and email correspondence from the White House, covering areas including the president’s private discussions about firing his FBI director and his response to news that the then-national security adviser was under investigation, according to two people briefed on the requests. Continue reading “Mueller casts broad net in requesting extensive records from Trump White House”

FBI wiretap of Manafort is big news, but not because it vindicates Trump’s claim

The following article by Aaron Rupar was posted on the ThinkProgress website September 19, 2017:

Trump’s accusation remains as groundless as ever.

Credit:  Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post

On Monday night, CNN broke news that federal agents wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort during stretches of time both before and after the 2016 election, including early this year — “a period when Manafort was known to talk to President Donald Trump.”

Not only does CNN’s report suggest there could be records of communications Manafort had with Trump, but it indicates investigators had good reason to believe Trump’s former campaign chairman was serving as an “agent of a foreign power.” Manafort reportedly made millions working for an oligarch closely tied to Putin, and presided over the Trump campaign during a time when it first came under FBI scrutiny for its Russia ties. CNN reports that “[t]he FBI interest in Manafort” dates back to when he was working on behalf of pro-Putin interests in Ukraine in 2014. Continue reading “FBI wiretap of Manafort is big news, but not because it vindicates Trump’s claim”

With a Picked Lock and a Threatened Indictment, Mueller’s Inquiry Sets a Tone

The following article by Sharon LaFraniere, Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman was posted on the New York Times website September 18, 2017:

Paul J. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, in June 2016. Prosecutors in the Russia investigation told Mr. Manafort they planned to indict him, two people close to the investigation said. Credit Brendan McDermid/Reuters

WASHINGTON — Paul J. Manafort was in bed early one morning in July when federal agents bearing a search warrant picked the lock on his front door and raided his Virginia home. They took binders stuffed with documents and copied his computer files, looking for evidence that Mr. Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, set up secret offshore bank accounts. They even photographed the expensive suits in his closet.

The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, then followed the house search with a warning: His prosecutors told Mr. Manafort they planned to indict him, said two people close to the investigation.

The moves against Mr. Manafort are just a glimpse of the aggressive tactics used by Mr. Mueller and his team of prosecutors in the four months since taking over the Justice Department’s investigation into Russia’s attempts to disrupt last year’s election, according to lawyers, witnesses and American officials who have described the approach. Dispensing with the plodding pace typical of many white-collar investigations, Mr. Mueller’s team has used what some describe as shock-and-awe tactics to intimidate witnesses and potential targets of the inquiry. Continue reading “With a Picked Lock and a Threatened Indictment, Mueller’s Inquiry Sets a Tone”