Paul Manafort gave the Russians polling, data, and internal documents. Donald Trump knew about this and still coordinated lies to Mueller with him.
Laura Rozen tweeted:
manafort was explicitly trading internal campaign info, policy considerations, to russia intel linked agent to try to pay off debt https://t.co/Ugj0haRjA4
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) January 8, 2019
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Jesse Lee of CAP Action pointed out that Trump knew all of this:
Trump knew this while he was corruptly coordinating answers with Manafort and defending him publicly. Absolutely jaw-dropping. https://t.co/wCkt7YlKJn
— Jesse Lee (@JesseCharlesLee) January 8, 2019
The Guardian reported that Manafort is accused of sharing polling data with Russian intelligence agencies, “Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, has been accused by special counsel Robert Mueller of sharing polling data on the 2016 election with a Russian man linked to Moscow’s intelligence agencies.”
The Russians would find polling and other campaign data very useful in their efforts to elect Trump because it would give them direction in their efforts to target voters. In order to get Trump elected, the Russians needed to know who to target and be in step with the campaign. Paul Manafort was one of those sources of information.
Mueller’s investigation is going to reveal how many other sources and what type of direct cooperation the Russians were getting from the Trump campaign.
Trump knew what Manafort did and he coordinated lies to Mueller with his former campaign chairman, which is why Manafort’s crimes have everything to do with Trump.
For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.
Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
