Feds investigate Manafort firm as part of Ukraine probe

Once-secret accounting documents of Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin party were released Friday that purportedly show payments of $12.7 million earmarked for Paul Manafort, who resigned as Donald Trump’s campaign chairman after the revelations.

Karlyn Bowman, a senior fellow and research coordinator at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, said Trump still had some time to turn around his campaign, noting the news came as many Americans were enjoying summer vacations.

Paul Manafort’s departure leaves the campaign under the guidance of the new chief executive Stephen K. Bannon, previously at Breitbart News, as well as Kellyanne Conway, the veteran pollster being named campaign manager earlier this week. He became campaign chairman in May, shunting aside campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who was sacked a month later.

Manafort’s resignation came a day after it was reported that confidential emails from his firm contradicted his claims that he had never lobbied on behalf of Ukrainian political figures in the U.S.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Justice Department are investigating possible U.S. links to an alleged corruption scheme involving deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, CNN reported, citing sources from those agencies.

If it’s true, Manafort may have violated USA laws requiring lobbyists to register as “foreign agents” with the Justice Department if they work with other governments. Tony is the brother of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman.

The Clinton campaign signalled that it plans to continue linking Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Clinton campaign responded on Friday to the resignation of Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, by questioning Trump’s relations to Russian Federation.

“Paul Manafort’s resignation is a clear admission that the disturbing connections between Donald Trump’s team and pro-Kremlin elements in Russian Federation and Ukraine are untenable”, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said Friday, according to Los Angeles Times. Manafort clashed immediately with then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and eventually prevailed in a power struggle that led to the exit of Lewandowski, who played a central role in helping the novice politician win the Republican primaries.

He is publicly identified with the “alt-right”, those who espouse “white nationalism” and other fascistic views, opposing the Republican congressional leadership as too soft on immigration and foreign trade. Trump’s words were applauded by mainstream Republicans, who hope this marked a transition to a campaign focused on attacking Clinton and delivering a consistent message about national security, law and order, and the economy.

In recent days, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had been searching for someone to join the campaign whom both he and Trump could agree was trustworthy, according to a person close to the campaign. There have been published suggestions that Trump, Bannon and Ailes are preparing to launch a new right-wing movement, perhaps centered on a cable television network, after Trump’s expected defeat in the November 8 election.

Trump knows what he is doing is “not working”, Schlapp added, and he needs his “very best team on the field”.

Associates of Manafort said Friday that it was clear that he was taking a calculated risk by joining Trump’s campaign.