(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
NY Times Details Putin’s Use of Manafort, Trump in Plot To Destroy Ukraine and U.S. Democracy [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-11-04
Paul Manafort being led away in handcuffs
Paul Manafort, working as a consultant in Ukraine for Russian interests, migrated to the U.S. presidential campaign of Donald Trump, serving as a bridge to support Russian President Putin’s campaign to undermine both Ukraine’s independence and U.S. democracy, the New York Times reports in an extensive magazine piece.
Jim Rutenberg links the two Russian objectives with extensive documentation in a readable narrative.
The action starts nearly 20 years ago, when Manafort, an experienced political operative from the U.S., finds a market for his skills in Ukraine, which is undergoing post-independence difficulties as the government deals with pro- and anti-Russian factions.
“By 2005, Manafort had emerged as a central figure in Ukraine’s often-snakebit experiment in democracy, Rutenberg writes. “He was introduced to the country’s politics by one of Russia’s most powerful oligarchs. … What had Putin in a lather was a pro-Western and youth-led democracy movement that had caught fire just as Ukraine’s second post-Soviet leader, the dictatorial and Kremlin-aligned Leonid Kuchma, prepared to step down. To succeed him, the reformists had lined up behind a politician named Viktor Yushchenko.”
Manafort was unable to control the rise of the pro-Democracy forces in Ukraine and eventually moved his focus to the U.S. to work for the Trump campaign in 2016.
“By the end of summer, vicious anti-Clinton social-media operations were intensifying, not only by the Trump campaign and its American allies but also by Russian trolls posing as Americans, who spread a raft of conspiracy theories about Clinton’s health and alleged criminality,” Rutenberg writes. “The operations included the states that Manafort had identified as key, investigators found.”
In the Trump campaign, Manafort remained a contact for a man authorities identified as a Russian spy, Konstantin Kilimnik.
“In mid-August, The New York Times had reported that a new Ukrainian anti-corruption agency had obtained a Party of Regions “black ledger,” listing earmarked, off-the-books payments to Ukrainian officials — and to Manafort,” Rutenberg writes. “A few days later, at a news conference in Kyiv, a former journalist turned reformist parliamentarian, Serhiy Leshchenko, highlighted 22 handwritten ledger entries listing $12.7 million in payments designated for Manafort. With Clinton’s campaign calling the ledger evidence of ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, Manafort resigned.”
Through a long process, Manafort is arrested, charged and sent to prison.
Trump modifies his campaign platform to weaken support for Ukraine. Trump wins and spends his four years in office subservient to Putin.
Losing his American ally, Putin invades Ukraine.
--
Hat Tip to Cumberland Sibyl and sorry to step on her earlier diary, but I thought the story could use a little more detail.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/4/2133608/-NY-Times-Details-Putin-s-Use-of-Manafort-Trump-in-Plot-To-Destroy-Ukraine-and-U-S-Democracy
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
