The New York Times (NYT) is just out with a detailed, complex, investigative piece that may spell major trouble, if not 2016 political doom, for Paul Manafort, who runs the Trump Campaign.
It was previously known that deposed former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich, was (ed. — and perhaps still is and probably will be again) a major paying client of lobbyist Paul Manafort. After firing on civilian protesters in Kyev’s Independence Square in February 2014, Yanukovich was removed from office by Ukraine’s Parliament, was accused of mass murder, and escaped to Russia, where he remains under Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s protection. Of course, Yanukovych was replaced by a pro-West regime that — while imperfect — is trying mightily to protect Ukraine’s independence from Putin’s Russia. As Slate reported here — www.slate.com/… Manafort “has built a booming business working with dictators . . . [and before Yanukovich’s ouster] remade Ukrainian politics and helped shift the country into Vladimir Putin’s sphere of influence.” Thus, Manafort has worked — albeit legally — directly against American and pro-democratic interests. Yanukovich, an ex-felon (assault and armed robbery, then assault again), has sworn he will return to power, and thus remains, under Putin’s protection, a self-declared government-in-exile. See www.newsweek.com/… Yanukovich is thus by any objective account an enemy of democracy and the West.
The NYT now reports that recently discovered ledgers showing cash payments, at least one in the tens of millions of dollars, suggest that Manafort may have facilitated, and at least knew of, such payments and a massive corruption scheme. The NYT story is here — www.nytimes.com/…
The NYT investigative article needs to be read and digested in its entirety, no small feat, but here is a highlight or two. In Kyev, “government investigators examining secret records have found [Manafort’s] name, as well as companies he sought to do business with, as they try to untangle a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort’s main client, former President Viktor Yanukovych.” And, the NYT article states, “Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.”
The New York Times (NYT) is just out with a detailed, complex, investigative piece that may spell major trouble, if not 2016 political doom, for Paul Manafort, who runs the Trump Campaign.
It was previously known that deposed former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich, was (ed. — and perhaps still is and probably will be again) a major paying client of lobbyist Paul Manafort. After firing on civilian protesters in Kyev’s Independence Square in February 2014, Yanukovich was removed from office by Ukraine’s Parliament, was accused of mass murder, and escaped to Russia, where he remains under Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s protection. Of course, Yanukovych was replaced by a pro-West regime that — while imperfect — is trying mightily to protect Ukraine’s independence from Putin’s Russia. As Slate reported here — www.slate.com/… Manafort “has built a booming business working with dictators . . . [and before Yanukovich’s ouster] remade Ukrainian politics and helped shift the country into Vladimir Putin’s sphere of influence.” Thus, Manafort has worked — albeit legally — directly against American and pro-democratic interests. Yanukovich, an ex-felon (assault and armed robbery, then assault again), has sworn he will return to power, and thus remains, under Putin’s protection, a self-declared government-in-exile. See www.newsweek.com/… Yanukovich is thus by any objective account an enemy of democracy and the West.
The NYT now reports that recently discovered ledgers showing cash payments, at least one in the tens of millions of dollars, suggest that Manafort may have facilitated, and at least knew of, such payments and a massive corruption scheme. The NYT story is here — www.nytimes.com/…
The NYT investigative article needs to be read and digested in its entirety, no small feat, but here is a highlight or two. In Kyev, “government investigators examining secret records have found [Manafort’s] name, as well as companies he sought to do business with, as they try to untangle a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort’s main client, former President Viktor Yanukovych.” And, the NYT article states, “Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.”
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/14/1560213/-NY-Times-Ledgers-Suggest-Manafort-Facilitated-Massive-Corrupt-Payments-to-Putin-Acolyte-Yanukovych