Following news that former Trump campaign chairman and convicted felon Paul Manafort might rejoin Donald Trump’s campaign, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore) asked the DNI to release a Senate report detailing Manafort’s relationship with Russian government officials.
“It is critical that these details be made public to the fullest extent possible,” Wyden wrote to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. “As the committee recommended, the public should be informed as soon as a foreign influence campaign is detected. In this case, a known “serious counterintelligence threat” would join a presidential campaign. Only by understanding the details of that threat can the public guard against a malign foreign influence that could once again threaten the American elections.”
Wyden pointed out that the Senate report identified Manafort as a conduit between the Trump campaign and Russia and continued:
:
To receive more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
I am writing to request that you release information from Part 5 of the Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Russia’s Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 US Election (Counterintelligence Threats and Vulnerabilities). In particular, I request the declassification of information relating to Paul Manafort, who is reportedly expected to take a stand in Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign (“Trump could enlist Paul Manafort, who was criticized for ties with Russia,” Washington Post, March 18, 2024 )
According to the public version of the bipartisan report:
“The committee has determined that Manafort’s presence at the [2016] The campaign and its proximity to Trump created opportunities for Russian intelligence services to influence and obtain confidential information about the Trump campaign. Overall, Manafort’s high-level access and willingness to share information with individuals closely associated with Russian intelligence services, in particular [Konstantin] Kilimnik and associates of Oleg Deripaska represented a serious counterintelligence threat.”
Full letter: here
The backstory:
The Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey reported that Manafort is in talks to return to Trump’s “campaign.”
Trump’s campaign operation is not your usual political campaign, as Donald Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 election, refused to honor the peaceful transfer of power, and incited what Director Wray called a terrorist attack on his own country in an effort to retain power .
Manafort “had accepted a plea deal in the case in September 2018, admitting to money laundering, tax fraud and illegal foreign lobbying related to his years working for Ukrainian politicians,” the American Bar Association reported. “Manafort also admitted that he lied to investigators and under oath before a grand jury about his contact with a Russian associate during the 2016 campaign, violating the plea agreement.”
In 2019, Manafort was convicted of conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice by tampering with witnesses, in what was the first case from Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation to go to trial. Manafort was one of 34 individuals and several companies charged in the investigation.
Donald Trump pardoned Paul Manafort in December 2020, after he lost the 2020 election and just days before he would incite an insurrection against his own country in an attempt to retain power.
While there is always the concern not to panic the public and try to prevent hostile foreign powers from having easy access to our intelligence, the public must be informed of the nature and extent of the danger posed by this convicted criminal who Donald Trump has chosen to lead. his 2016 campaign – especially in light of his ties to Russia, as Russia tries to weaken Ukraine by getting the US to cut off its aid and support to the country after Putin illegally invaded the country.
Russia is also trying to undermine Western democracies like the United States, which is why anyone running for US presidency should not associate themselves with Russian agents.
Listen to Sarah on the PoliticusUSA Pod on the Daily Newsletter podcast here.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then Vice President Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively reported on her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then-President Donald Trump.
Sarah is a two-time Telly award-winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Connect with Sarah on Post, Mastodon @[email protected], & Tweet.