Trump may enlist Manafort, whose Russia ties were called a grave threat (WP) [View all]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/18/trump-manafort-2024-campaign/

https://archive.ph/QGBaw

Trump may enlist Manafort, whose Russia ties were called a grave threat
The former campaign manager was pardoned by Trump for bank and tax fraud convictions and accusations he hid millions he made consulting for pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians
By Josh Dawsey
Updated March 18, 2024 at 10:39 a.m. EDT | Published March 18, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. EDT

Former president Donald Trump is expected to enlist Paul Manafort, the former campaign manager he pardoned, as a campaign adviser later this year, according to four people familiar with the talks.

Manafort worked for Trump in 2016 before being ousted and later convicted of tax and bank fraud felonies as part of Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. He served time in prison before receiving a pardon in the final days of Trump’s time in office.

The hiring of Manafort would likely revive discussion of Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election, which Mueller concluded was “sweeping and systemic.” Mueller also found that Manafort shared internal Trump campaign polling data with a longtime associate who the FBI assessed had ties to Russian intelligence.

A bipartisan Senate committee that investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election concluded that Manafort’s receptivity to Russian outreach was a “grave counterintelligence threat” that had made the 2016 campaign susceptible to “malign Russian influence.”

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