For most of the time since word got out that Donald Trump Jr. orchestrated a meeting with a Russian lawyer in hopes of getting Kremlin-flavored “opposition research” on Hillary Clinton, most of the focus has been on both him and Jared Kushner. In the process, most people have been overlooking the role of then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort. He was the one person in that room who either knew or should have known this meeting was improper at best and illegal at worst. And yet, he did absolutely nothing.
That factor alone would be enough to put Manafort squarely in the crosshairs of special counsel Robert Mueller and his grand jury. But Manafort may have a lot more to worry about than offenses of omission. American intelligence intercepts indicate that he approached Russian agents for damaging information about Hillary.
Late Thursday night, Slate’s Eliot Hannon noticed a rather interesting tidbit in CNN’s update on the Russian hacking investigation. According to American officials close to the situation, American intelligence had gotten its hands on chatter from Russian agents who had been approached by Manafort.
“CNN has learned that investigators became more suspicious when they turned up intercepted communications that US intelligence agencies collected among suspected Russian operatives discussing their efforts to work with Manafort, who served as campaign chairman for three months, to coordinate information that could damage Hillary Clinton’s election prospects, the US officials say. The suspected operatives relayed what they claimed were conversations with Manafort, encouraging help from the Russians.”
So there you have it. The operating head of a major-party presidential campaign approached agents of a hostile foreign government for dirt on an opponent. This may very well be the strongest evidence to date that Trump operatives were at least willing to seek the help of the Kremlin in order to beat Hillary.
It wouldn’t be the first time that Manafort has been under fire for putting the interests of the Kremlin ahead of the interests of his own country. You may recall that in 2006, he worked with the party of Ukraine’s then pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, to orchestrate a series of violent protests against American sailors and Marines that put the soldiers’ lives in danger.
And even without that to consider, as Geraldo Rivera reminded us on Twitter, Manafort already had a lot of reasons to be very afraid of Mueller.
@PaulManafort fmr campaign chief probably has biggest exposure due to millions he rec'd from pro-Russia Ukraine politicians+Kushner re visas
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) August 4, 2017
It was those millions that likely forced Trump to fire Manafort in August 2016.
But this is another matter altogether. It cannot be repeated enough–the operating head of a major-party presidential campaign approached agents of a hostile foreign government for dirt on an opponent. This is not just politics, as Trump would have you believe. This is treasonous behavior. Considering that Manafort is a veteran political operative who has been working in campaigns since the 1970s, he can’t plead ignorance here.
Manafort’s spokesman, Jason Maloni, issued a statement denying that his client had engaged in collusion. In what has become standard operating procedure for current and former Trump operatives, he dismissed this bombshell as the product of “anonymous officials illegally peddling second hand conspiracy theories,” and demanded that whoever gave this information to CNN be prosecuted.
Whoever leaked this shouldn’t be prosecuted. He, she, or they are patriots. We now know just how far Manafort was willing to go in order to help Trump win. He was willing to engage in behavior that borders on espionage.
If anyone should be getting ready to face a judge, it’s Manafort. According to the (New York) Daily News, Mueller’s team was already preparing to lean hard on Manafort to turn state’s evidence, and planned to use questionable real estate transactions in New York City as leverage. And now there is evidence that he actually approached Russian agents for help to defeat Hillary. Under the circumstances, don’t be surprised if Manafort is told very soon that he has to make a life decision–and has a limited amount of time to do it.
Trump has spent the better part of two years slamming Hillary as crooked. And yet, his own campaign chief was actively engaging in treasonous conduct. Pot, meet kettle.
(featured image courtesy ABC News, available under a Creative Commons BY-ND license)
