How Paul Manafort is connected to the Trump, Russia investigation
Report: Paul Manafort to surrender to federal authorities
Sources say the former Trump campaign manager and his former business associate Rick Gates have been instructed to turn themselves in as part of the Russia investigation.
It’s been more than a year since Paul Manafort briefly led President Trump’s quest for the White House and even longer since he worked for a controversial Ukrainian politician.
Manafort and his former business partner Richard Gates, 45, were told to turn themselves into federal authorities Monday morning, the New York Times reported. These are reportedly the first charges filed in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 president election.
Mueller and Gates were indicted by a federal grand jury that contains 12 counts: conspiracy against the U.S., conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading [Foreign Agents Registration Act] statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts, a spokesperson for the Special Counsel's Office told Fox News.
Manafort’s house was raided earlier this summer by FBI investigators, and he was reportedly wiretapped by investigators – before and after the election.
Manafort, 68, has been the subject of a longstanding investigation due to his past dealings in Ukraine several years ago – for which he didn’t file as a foreign agent until June 2017. But Mueller has incorporated that investigation into his own probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump associates.
Read on for a look at just how connected Manafort is to the Russia investigation and Trump.
What kind of foreign work did Manafort do?
A GOP operative who worked for former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, Manafort reportedly began his work with Republican politics in the 1970s.
Eventually, Manafort was hired by controversial former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russia politician who was ousted from power twice. After Yanukovych was eventually elected president in 2010, Manafort reportedly stayed on as an adviser and worked with other projects in Eastern Europe, including the Party of Regions political party.
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Manafort also worked for Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. In 2005, Manafort came up with a plan to influence U.S. politics, business dealings and the media in order to “greatly benefit the Putin Government,” according to the Associated Press.
Deripaska, 49, is a close Putin ally and signed a $10 million annual contract with Manafort in 2006. They maintained a business relationship until at least 2009, the Associated Press reported.
Financial records obtained by the New York Times indicated that Manafort was in debt to pro-Russian interests by up to $17 million prior to joining Trump’s campaign.
How was Manafort involved with Trump's campaign?
Manafort joined then-presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign in March 2016 to help wrangle delegates ahead of the Republican National Convention in Ohio, something he successfully did for former President Gerald Ford.
Kellyanne Conway and Paul Manafort speak during a discussion on security at Trump Tower in August 2016. Manafort served as Trump's campaign chairman; Conway eventually became the campaign manager and is now a White House senior adviser. (Reuters/Carlo Allegri)
Just two months later, Manafort became campaign chairman.
Manafort’s resignation from the campaign was announced on August 19, 2016, after the New York Times reported that he received $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments from Yanukovych’s pro-Russian party between 2007 and 2012.
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Along with Donald Trump Jr., Trump’s eldest son, Manafort met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskay in June 2016. She was said to have damaging information on Trump’s campaign rival, Hillary Clinton, which was “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump."
Could he help investigators discover if Trump associates colluded with Russia?
Mueller took over the criminal investigation into Manafort’s financial dealings as he looks into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the White House.
Source claims raid was designed to intimidate; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports
New details on FBI raid of Paul Manafort's home
In recent months, Manafort has turned over documents to congressional committees investigating election interference. Judiciary committee leaders have been in talks with Manafort regarding private interviews.
At the end of July 2017, FBI agents executed a search warrant and searched Manafort’s home in Alexandria, Va., seeking information pertaining to his tax and banking records.
A secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court order authorized the wiretapping of Manafort in 2014. It was discontinued in 2016, but investigators obtained another warrant that lasted until early 2017, CNN reported.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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