Former Trump aide Paul Manafort in talks to support Republican candidate's presidential campaign: Report

politics

by Victor Nava

Paul Manafort, the 2016 campaign chairman who was pardoned by former President Donald Trump, may be returning to the party and helping a Republican candidate win the White House in 2024, according to multiple reports.

The Washington Post first reported that Manafort, 74, is being considered by the Trump campaign to support the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, possibly as a fundraiser.

Talks between Mr. Manafort and the Trump campaign have been going on for months, according to the New York Times, and one source said the potential role of Mr. Manafort, a longtime Republican aide and lobbyist, was limited. has expressed the view that this does not represent an attempt to undermine the former president's system. Current campaign staff.

A final decision on whether to bring Manafort back to the Trump campaign has not yet been made.

Manafort managed President Trump's campaign from May to August 2016.

He resigned under pressure weeks before the general election following reports of business dealings with pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians.

In October 2017, Manafort and his former business partner Rick Gates faced the first charges stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Mueller said Manafort also allegedly shared internal campaign polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, an alleged Russian intelligence agent, and later lied to the FBI about his interactions with the Russian.

Manafort was convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion and sentenced to more than seven years in prison in 2019.

At the time, President Trump described Manafort as a “good man” and said he felt “very sick.”

The longtime lobbyist was imprisoned from June 2018 to May 2020, then released after serving his sentence under house arrest amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Trump, 77, commuted Manafort's sentence in July 2020 and pardoned him before leaving office in December of the same year.

The Trump campaign did not respond to The Post's request for comment.