“Trump has officially replaced a Russia sympathizer with a white supremacist sympathizer. Paul Manafort’s resignation is just the latest sign of how toxic Donald Trump’s campaign has become. The Trump campaign is clearly desperate to bury their candidate’s troubling relationship with Moscow. But Manafort’s resignation after days of bad stories regarding his involvement with pro-Putin Ukrainian figures cannot erase the fact that for months Trump has praised Vladimir Putin, defended Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and refused to condemn some of the Kremlin’s worst atrocities. Trump owes the American people answers about his relationship with the Kremlin. For starters, he should release his tax returns and finally come clean about any financial ties to Moscow.”
Last night, The New York Times reported on the discovery of secret ledgers showing that a pro-Kremlin Ukrainian political party had earmarked $12.7 million in cash payments for Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Manafort played a central role in deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s successful campaigns for Prime Minister in 2006 and the presidency in 2010—but the relationship didn’t end there. The Times investigation uncovered a deep web of ties between Manafort and pro-Kremlin figures in Ukraine.
The story about possible payments from Ukrainian officials to Manafort is just the latest revelation about the Trump campaign’s troubling connections to the Kremlin. Trump has praised Vladimir Putin, seemingly defended Russia’s annexation of Crimea and threatened to unravel the NATO alliance if Russia invaded a U.S. ally. Trump surrogates reportedly took out a plank in the Republican platform pledging to provide arms to Ukraine to fight Kremlin-backed rebels.
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