Sunday, May 12, 2024

Manafort will no longer take on Republican convention role. (WaPo)

As the song asks, "When will they ever learn?"  Like Gore Vidal said upon the death of Truman Capote, "Good career move."  From The Washington Post: 

Manafort will no longer take on Republican convention role

Manafort had offered to work free on the Republican convention, meeting with officials in recent weeks about his role. 

May 11, 2024 at 6:10 p.m. EDT

Paul Manafort leaving the federal courthouse in Washington on Nov. 6, 2017. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP File Photo)
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Paul Manafort, the longtime political power broker who served as the 2016 chairman for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, is no longer planning to help manage this summer’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Manafort’s decision to step aside comes a day after The Washington Post reported that he had re-engaged in international consulting, including lending support to a media venture in China, after being pardoned by Trump for crimes related to money laundering and obstruction of justice.

As in 2016, Manafort had offered to work free, meeting with Republicans in recent weeks about his role at the convention and traveling to Milwaukee late this week to meet with convention officials.

Manafort, in a statement provided to the New York Times by the Trump campaign, said that he no longer planned to assist convention efforts, saying he did not want to be a distraction. The statement said he had been offering “advice and suggestions” in a “volunteer” capacity but now planned to “stick to the sidelines” but support Trump’s election “every other way” he could.

Paul Manafort leaving the federal courthouse in Washington on Nov. 6, 2017. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP File Photo)
3 min
Add to your saved stories

Paul Manafort, the longtime political power broker who served as the 2016 chairman for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, is no longer planning to help manage this summer’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Manafort’s decision to step aside comes a day after The Washington Post reported that he had re-engaged in international consulting, including lending support to a media venture in China, after being pardoned by Trump for crimes related to money laundering and obstruction of justice.

As in 2016, Manafort had offered to work free, meeting with Republicans in recent weeks about his role at the convention and traveling to Milwaukee late this week to meet with convention officials.

Manafort, in a statement provided to the New York Times by the Trump campaign, said that he no longer planned to assist convention efforts, saying he did not want to be a distraction. The statement said he had been offering “advice and suggestions” in a “volunteer” capacity but now planned to “stick to the sidelines” but support Trump’s election “every other way” he could.

The Times first reported on his decision to step back and his recent visit to Milwaukee. Manafort and the Trump campaign did not immediately reply to The Post for comment.

Advisers had told The Post that Trump was determined to hire Manafort, planning to hand him a substantial role at the convention because he appreciated the loyalty he had shown him even while in prison. Manafort was expected to be involved in organizing the convention committees and helping to manage the party’s platform process, according to people familiar with the planning.

Trump’s team was not aware of the extent of Manfort’s foreign work, one of the people familiar with the planning said. Trump advisers said last week they would want to review it before the convention, they said. These people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes discussions.

Manafort’s post-pardon consulting has included assisting with launching a Netflix-like mobile streaming and entertainment platform in China that, according to corporate documents, has the endorsement of the Chinese government. 

After The Post’s initial reporting on his re-engagement with international consulting, Manafort had said he was “not involved with China” and has “had nothing to do with China, including Chinese businesses, government, individuals, or anything else,” but acknowledged that he “was asked to make introductions to U.S. studios and potential U.S. partners in the venture.”

He also asserted that there was “nothing about my limited role of introductions to U.S. business people that involves anything to do with the politics of U.S.-China relations.”

The Post also reported that Manafort in recent years sought to advise political figures in Japan and South Korea, according to a person who was approached by party officials in those countries checking on the consultant’s reputation. Last year, Manafort traveled to Guatemala on the invitation of a migrant advocacy group called Proyecto Guatemala Migrante and met with a Guatemalan presidential candidate, Ricardo Sagastume.

Beth Reinhard contributed to this report.

Josh Dawsey is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the paper in 2017 and previously covered the White House. Before that, he covered the White House for Politico, and New York City Hall and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for the Wall Street Journal. Twitter
Maegan Vazquez is a politics breaking news reporter. She joined The Washington Post in 2023. Twitter
Isaac Stanley-Becker is an investigative reporter on the national staff. Twitter




1 comment:

  1. Republicans still can't tell him apart from themselves because most of them are like him!

    ReplyDelete