Two articles on Paul Manafort. Nobody seems to notice the contradiction between calling Trump a crazy guy who's going to start WW3 and calling him a friend of Putin.
Donald Trump's fixer Paul Manafort has a long history of working with governments unfriendly to the US
usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-05-06/donald-trump-talks-america-first-but-hires-a-long-time-foreign-lobbyist
Manafort is a veteran of the Ford, Reagan and Dole campaigns; the press considers him a political operative extraordinaire who has a lobbying business in the off years. One particular aspect of that lobbying trade that got short-shrift in the initial wave of Manafort coverage is his collection of foreign clients.
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''The Guardian drills down into Manafort's byzantine business deals with Yanukovych and his allies, most of whom are associated with either wealthy steel and mining interests or Gazprom, the former Soviet gas ministry that is now a company holding three-quarters of Russia's natural gas reserves and is closely associated with Putin. The paper also quotes David Cramer, a top Russia advisor in the Bush 43 State Department: "Advising Yanukovych is like putting lipstick on a pig … [Yanukovych] was someone who was involved in massive corruption and had blood on his hands."
Feel like taking a shower yet? I do. But really, other than causing disgust at the Washington revolving door of political operatives-turned-lobbyists, why should any of us care who Paul Manafort's clients are?
Reason number one: Trump has campaigned as an outsider, someone who will shake up the Washington establishment – no more business as usual. Yet he's hired the insider's insider in what has to be one of Trump's most hypocritical and cynical decisions yet. And no one's batting an eye.
Reason number two: Take a look at the transcript of Donald Trump's recent "America First" foreign policy speech:
"We desire to live peacefully and in friendship with Russia and China," Trump said. "We have serious differences with these two nations, and must regard them with open eyes, but we are not bound to be adversaries. We should seek common ground based on shared interests." He continued: "I believe an easing of tensions, and improved relations with Russia from a position of strength only is possible, absolutely possible. Common sense says this cycle, this horrible cycle of hostility, must end and ideally will end soon. Good for both countries."
Trump Advisor's Putin Connections Freak Out Security Establishment (Video)
alternet.org/election-2016/intelligence-agencies-weary-trump-advisers-putin-ties
But now, as Trump ascends to the position of likely GOP nominee,Buzzfeed reports that intelligence agencies are taking note of potential conflicts of interest concerning Trump’s aides and their “ties to allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
In particular, policy experts are concerned about Trump’s newest political operative, Paul Manafort, who was recruited last month to lead the effort to secure delegates for the GOP convention in July. Manafort has significant experience laying the infrastructure for successful political campaigns, both in the United States and abroad. Slate provides extensive detail of Manafort’s dealings with foreign leaders, summarily stating Trump’s latest hire “made a career out of stealthily reinventing the world’s nastiest tyrants as noble defenders of freedom.”
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Friday afternoon, MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell asked Manafort about his connection to the Kremlin. "The fact that you, in the past, have represented in your business life, some of these Russian allies in Ukraine, those who are close to Vladimir Putin, pro-Russian forces: Do your past clients or current clients conflict in any way with the classified intelligence briefings that Donald Trump, as the nominee, is going to get?” Mitchell asked.
Manafort told Mitchell he has “no other clients except for Trump.” “And I'm not getting the briefings,” Manafort added. [Trump] is getting the briefings.” Mitchell pressed Manafort further, asking Trump’s adviser if classified briefings would be shared with him.