Donald Trump’s current campaign chairman Paul Manafort may be in big trouble—and Donald Trump’s former campaign manager seemingly couldn’t be happier.
A New York Times expose revealed Sunday that Manafort’s name turned up on a “secret” off-the-books ledger kept by the former, pro-Russian Ukranian president Viktor F. Yanukovich. The ledger, Ukranian investigators say, was used to keep track of millions of dollars in Ukranian assets, allegedly siphoned off and used to finance pro-Russian efforts in the country.
Manafort appears to have gotten around $12.7 million in payouts from Yanukovich’s political operation, and may have benefited from a group of secret offshore corporations that “helped Mr. Yanukovich’s inner circle finance their lavish lifestyle.”
Manafort, for his part, says that the allegations are false, and likens his relationship with Yanukovich to working for the Democratic National Committee—if, of course, the DNC was a mildly despotic pro-Russian ruler, deposed by a popular uprising. Manafort also says his work ended in 2014, but that’s largely because his client was forced to flee from Ukraine to Russia.
If that wasn’t enough, though, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who reportedly lost out to Manafort in a bloody campaign realignment, decided to remind Trump’s supporters of exactly who Trump kept on his team.
Secret Ledger in Ukraine Lists Cash for Donald Trump’s Campaign Chief https://t.co/7bh7iIHHaY
— Corey R. Lewandowski (@CLewandowski_) August 15, 2016
Of course, Lewandowski told CNN that he shared the link out of loving concern for the Trump campaign, to demonstrate that the New York Times was a “biased” news organization. His former boss, at least, seems to agree that the Manafort piece was largely a dig at the Trump campaign.
But it’s also highly likely Lewandowski meant the burn.
Another Times investigative piece, published over the weekend, revealed that the Trump campaign is facing mounting internal chaos, with Trump losing faith in his top advisers, who have been trying to reign in the brash New York billionaire before his campaign gets too far behind.
Among the revelations: Trump has “continued to seek advice” from Lewandowski, whom he fired from his campaign just a month ago. Lewandowski lost out on a feud with Trump chair Manafort, who blamed Lewandowski’s confrontational (and often controversial) style for making Trump look unprofessional. He also considered Lewandowski’s temper a distraction from an otherwise pulled-together campaign.
But while Trump was able to rein in his personality for a while, sticking to written speeches and considering ground operations in key states, recently he’s started going off script again—a development that appears to coincide with his renewed interest in Lewandowski.
Trump called the allegations “fiction,” but Fox News revealed that Trump campaign operations aren’t running smoothly. And more trouble may be ahead.
Speaking as someone who has a story coming this week: This is just the beginning for Manafort. It gets worse. https://t.co/5KTUsIHbX1
— Adam Weinstein (@AdamWeinstein) August 15, 2016
The power struggle for control of the Trump campaign isn’t over yet.
