Vanity Fair: The Curious Case of Paul Manafort

Questions continue about alleged connections between Russia and the US election. A report suggests that a Ukrainian official had tried to alert Paul Manafort, a former chairman of the Trump campaign, about compromising information, later revealed after a phone of Manafort’s daughter was hacked. The Ukrainian official denies that he was the source of the messages. “Manafort, however, confirmed the authenticity of the texts,” explains Abigail Tracy for Vanity Fair. “Manafort told Politico that they were sent shortly before The New York Times published a report in August alleging that entries in a ‘secret ledger’ obtained by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau revealed Manafort was designated to receive a total of $12.7 million in undisclosed payments over a period of five years from Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party.” The FBI and Ukrainian authorities are investigating contents of the ledger, and Manafort denies wrongdoing. The assumption is that some campaign officials may have hoped to organize a peace plan for Ukraine that allowed reducing sanctions for Russia, Tracy explains. She outlines a string of strange investigations, including plans to extradite another Ukrainian man who may “face racketeering charges in a Chicago court” and denies “allegations that he bribed Indian politicians as part of a scheme to sell titanium to Boeing.” Subjects being investigated may try to reduce their own criminal charges by divulging the activities of others. – YaleGlobal