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Undated: Paul John Manafort Jr. (born April 1, 1949) is an American lobbyist, political consultant, lawyer, and convicted felon. A Republican, he joined Donald Trump's presidential campaign team in March 2016, and was campaign chairman from June to August 2016.
Manafort was an adviser to the U.S. presidential campaigns of Republicans Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bob Dole. In 1980, he co-founded the Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm Black, Manafort & Stone, along with principals Charles R. Black Jr., and Roger J. Stone,[3][4][5] joined by Peter G. Kelly in 1984.[6] Manafort often lobbied on behalf of foreign leaders such as former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, former dictator of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos, former dictator of Zaire Mobutu Sese Seko, and Angolan guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi.[7][8][9] Lobbying to serve the interests of foreign governments requires registration with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA); on June 27, he retroactively registered as a foreign agent.[10][11][12][13]
Manafort has been under investigation by multiple federal agencies. The FBI reportedly began a criminal investigation into Manafort in 2014, shortly after Yanukovych was deposed.[14]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Manafort
-- 2016 --
August 18: In an effort to collect previously undisclosed millions of dollars he’s owed by an oligarch-backed Ukrainian political party, Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been relying on a trusted protégé whose links to Russia and its Ukrainian allies have prompted concerns among Manafort associates, according to people who worked with both men.
The protégé, Konstantin Kilimnik, has had conversations with fellow operatives in Kiev about collecting unpaid fees owed to Manafort’s company by a Russia-friendly political party called Opposition Bloc, according to operatives who work in Ukraine.
A Russian Army-trained linguist who has told a previous employer of a background with Russian intelligence, Kilimnik started working for Manafort in 2005 when Manafort was representing Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, a gig that morphed into a long-term contract with Viktor Yanukovych, the Kremlin-aligned hard-liner who became president of Ukraine.
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/paul-manafort-ukraine-kiev-russia-konstantin-kilimnik-227181
-- 2017 --
April 12: Longtime Trump ally: 'Heresy' to accuse Manafort of colluding with Russians
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/12/politics/tom-barrack-jr-steve-bannon-erin-burnett-outfront-cnntv/?iid=ob_lockedrail_bottomlist
April 12: ... friend of ... Trump is defending former campaign chairman Paul Manafort in the wake of a report that his consulting firm received at least $1.2 million in payments from a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/12/politics/tom-barrack-jr-steve-bannon-erin-burnett-outfront-cnntv/?iid=ob_lockedrail_bottomlist
April 12: Paul Manafort [associated with the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump] lawyers have been in discussions with the Justice Department and he is expected to register as a foreign agent in a bid to resolve questions about his past work for Ukraine, according to sources briefed on the talks. ... ongoing probe of the Russian operation to meddle in the US election last year.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/12/politics/paul-manafort-ukraine/index.html
August 9: A raid on the Virginia home of President Donald Trump’s former 2016 election campaign manager [Paul Manafort] showed an investigation of possible ties between the campaign and Russia is intensifying and focused on the financial dealings of Trump associates, sources familiar with the probe said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia/fbi-raid-on-ex-trump-aides-home-shows-russia-probe-intensifies-idUSKBN1AP1OR
August 9: FBI agents raided the home in Alexandria, Va., of President Trump’s former campaign chairman [Paul Manafort], arriving in the pre-dawn hours late last month and seizing documents and other materials related to the special counsel investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fbi-conducted-predawn-raid-of-former-trump-campaign-chairman-manaforts-home/2017/08/09/5879fa9c-7c45-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html?utm_term=.f56387d5f228
August 9: Investigators in the Russia inquiry have previously sought documents with subpoenas, which are less intrusive and confrontational than a search warrant. With a warrant, agents can inspect a physical location and seize any useful information. To get a judge to sign off on a search warrant, prosecutors must show that there is probable cause that a crime has been committed.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fbi-conducted-predawn-raid-of-former-trump-campaign-chairman-manaforts-home/2017/08/09/5879fa9c-7c45-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html?utm_term=.f56387d5f228
August 9: “Mr. Manafort has consistently cooperated with law enforcement and other serious inquiries and did so on this occasion as well,” said Maloni, the Manafort spokesman.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fbi-conducted-predawn-raid-of-former-trump-campaign-chairman-manaforts-home/2017/08/09/5879fa9c-7c45-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html?utm_term=.f56387d5f228
August 9: As a political consultant, Manafort traveled the world, at times offering advice to despots and dictators ... His decade of work in Ukraine on behalf of a Russia-friendly political party has drawn attention from the FBI. In Kiev, he advised the Party of Regions, helping to elect former president Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted from power amid public protests in 2014 and fled to Russia.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fbi-conducted-predawn-raid-of-former-trump-campaign-chairman-manaforts-home/2017/08/09/5879fa9c-7c45-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html?utm_term=.f56387d5f228
August 9: A few days after attending the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 at the urging of Trump Jr., Manafort was named chairman of Trump’s campaign, following the ouster of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Manafort remained in that role through the Republican National Convention and into August, when he resigned amid growing scrutiny of his work in Ukraine. The New York Times reported at the time that his name was found in a ledger of off-the-books cash payments made by the Party of Regions. Manafort has denied receiving any improper payments from the party.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fbi-conducted-predawn-raid-of-former-trump-campaign-chairman-manaforts-home/2017/08/09/5879fa9c-7c45-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html?utm_term=.f56387d5f228
October 30: Three days after the RNC wrapped up, Manafort [who organized and directed the Republican convention] addressed questions that had started to be raised about his and the campaign’s possible ties to Russia.
"Are there any ties between Mr. Trump, you or your campaign and Putin and his regime?" ABC News' George Stephanopoulos asked on "This Week” July 24.
"No, there are not," Manafort said with a chuckle. "It's absurd and there's no basis to it."
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/timeline-paul-manaforts-role-trump-campaign/story?id=50808957
October 30: President Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was indicted Monday on charges that he funneled millions of dollars through overseas shell companies and used the money to buy luxury cars, real estate, antiques and expensive suits.
The charges against Mr. Manafort and his longtime associate Rick Gates represent a significant escalation in a special counsel investigation that has cast a shadow over Mr. Trump’s first year in office.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/us/politics/paul-manafort-indicted.html
October 30: “The President must not, under any circumstances, interfere with the special counsel’s work in any way. If he does so, Congress must respond swiftly, unequivocally, and in a bipartisan way to ensure that the investigation continues,” [Senator Chuck] Schumer said.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/30/politics/russia-investigation-manafort-latest/index.html
November 8: The federal judge overseeing the case against former Donald Trump campaign aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates has issued a gag order in the case.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Wednesday said the order is necessary to limit the impact on potential jurors.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/08/politics/paul-manafort-gag-order/index.html
-- 2018 --
February 14: [Oleg] Deripaska’s ties with [Paul] Manafort date back to 2005, when they reportedly signed a $10 million contract. But things went sour, and Deripaska sued Manafort and his associate Rick Gates earlier this year for $25 million in damages over the failed business dealings.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/russia-youtube-instagram-kremlin-oligarch_us_5a83f9f0e4b0adbaf3d8eb6f
February 15: Rick Gates, a campaign adviser to President Trump and former business partner of Paul Manafort, is close to finalizing a plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office
After interviews like this, prosecutors investigate the information they received, then negotiate charges and potential sentences. Gates' plea deal could be announced in the next few days ...
http://theweek.com/speedreads/755700/trump-campaign-adviser-rick-gates-reportedly-close-making-plea-deal-mueller
February 22: Paul Manafort, Rick Gates laundered more than $30 million, according to new Mueller indictment
Dramatically escalating the pressure and stakes, special counsel Robert Mueller filed additional criminal charges Thursday against President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman and his business associate.
The filing adds allegations of tax evasion and bank fraud and significantly increases the legal jeopardy facing Paul Manafort, who managed Trump’s campaign for several months in 2016, and longtime associate Rick Gates. Both had already faced the prospect of at least a decade in prison if convicted at trial.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/former-trump-campaign-chair-paul-manafort-faces-new-tax-charges-in-mueller-probe
February 28: Manafort appeared for the first time in federal court since his campaign deputy Rick Gates pleaded guilty Friday to related charges and agreed to cooperate with the government’s prosecution of his longtime business partner.
Manafort was required to enter a new plea to the revamped five-count indictment issued Friday.
The indictment alleged that Manafort had secretly enlisted a group of “former European politicians,” including a former European chancellor to advocate on behalf of the pro-Russian faction Manafort represented in Ukraine.
Prosecutors have asserted that Manafort wired the unnamed officials more than 2 million euros from his off-shore accounts.
Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chief, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a vast money laundering conspiracy and fraud charges as a federal judge set trial for Sept. 17.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/28/paul-manafort-trumps-former-campaign-manager-pleads-not-guilty-trial-set-sept-17/380831002/
February 28: Hope Hicks, the president’s longest-serving aide and current communications director will resign her post in the coming weeks
Hicks was ... critical of Paul Manafort in the interview, suggesting to congressional investigators that he wouldn't have been campaign chairman if he was properly vetted, according to a source familiar with her testimony.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-aide-hope-hicks-resign-sources/story?id=53424070
June 5: Alex Van Der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer and the only person to serve prison time in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, was deported and arrived back in the Netherlands Tuesday, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Van Der Zwaan, the son-in-law of Russian oligarch German Khan, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his work with two of President Trump's former campaign aides. He served 30 days in a low-security prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania.
In his plea, Van Der Zwaan admitted to deleting emails and lying to prosecutors about a conversation with Rick Gates, a former Trump aide, about work they'd done for a Ukrainian political party, which was aligned with Russia.
Prosecutors say Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, and Gates helped pay for the report.
Both were accused of secretly working on behalf of pro-Russian factions in Ukraine, then laundering millions of dollars in profits through foreign bank accounts. Prosecutors charged that the men sought to cover up their work even while they held senior roles in Trump’s campaign.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/05/alex-van-der-zwaan-lawyer-charged-muellers-russia-probe-deported/674731002/
May 5: The Associated Press reported Saturday that President Donald Trump‘s longtime billionaire friend and adviser Thomas Barrack, Jr. had been questioned by Robert Mueller’s team as part of the Russiagate investigation. Here are five key facts about the former Miramax chair and part-owner of Michael Jackson‘s Neverland Ranch.
1. Trump’s People View Barrack With Suspicion Over Manfort Ties
2. Barrack Suggested Kanye West Wasn’t ‘Traditionally American’
3. His Pro-Trump Super PAC Hasn’t Lived Up to Expectations
4. He Wanted to Save the Weinstein Company (Until He Didn’t)
5. His Time in Government Was Quick and Controversial
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/here-are-5-key-facts-about-thomas-barrack-including-a-kanye-west-connection/
August 17: The judge in the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort denied a motion from media organizations to make public the names of the jurors in the trial, saying he has faced "criticism and threats" and doesn't want the same for jurors.
Judge T.S. Ellis cited the "peace and safety" of the jurors and "the integrity of the process" in denying the motion. Ellis, 78, told a packed courtroom that he is now receiving protection from the U.S. Marshals as a result of the threats he's faced.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-in-manafort-case-wont-unseal-juror-names-saying-hes-received-threats/
August 27: When a Virginia court convicted Paul Manafort, U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, on charges of tax and bank fraud and concealing foreign bank accounts, a certain Ukrainian politician felt a surge of vindication. Serhiy Leshchenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and a former journalist, revealed the existence in 2016 of the so-called “black ledger”—a list of secret payments made by Ukraine’s pro-Russian Party of Regions to Manafort and others. The list detailed the vast sums Manafort earned as a political consultant abroad, some of which he concealed from U.S. authorities.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/27/the-ukrainian-who-sunk-paul-manafort/
September 18: Trump-proof aspects of Manafort deal rankle lawyers
Robert Mueller seems to have built in safeguards to discourage the president from pardoning Manafort.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s plea agreement with Paul Manafort on Friday took unusual and possibly unprecedented steps to undercut President Donald Trump’s ability to pardon his former campaign chairman.
The plea deal Mueller struck with Manafort contains several provisions that appear intended to discourage the former Trump aide from seeking a pardon and to rein in the impact of any pardon Trump might grant.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/18/manafort-deal-pardon-mueller-trump-827898
October 5: Mueller moves for forfeiture order to seize Manafort assets
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/410167-mueller-moves-for-forfeiture-order-to-seize-manafort-assets
November 26: Prosecutors with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III said Monday that Paul Manafort breached his plea agreement, accusing President Trump’s former campaign chairman of lying repeatedly to them in their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Manafort denied doing so intentionally, but both sides agreed in a court filing that U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District should set sentencing immediately.
The apparent collapse of Manafort’s cooperation agreement is the latest stunning turnaround in his case, exposing the longtime Republican consultant to at least a decade behind bars after he pleaded guilty in September to charges of cheating the Internal Revenue Service, violating foreign-lobbying laws and attempting to obstruct justice.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/mueller-says-manafort-lied-after-pleading-guilty-should-be-sentenced-immediately/2018/11/26/61c76d5a-f18d-11e8-aeea-b85fd44449f5_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.73ea40e9a8e1
November 28: Trump: Manafort Pardon Not 'Off The Table' After Briefings From Manafort's Lawyer
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/28/671497142/trump-steps-up-mueller-attacks-following-report-about-briefing-from-manafort-law
December 8: The Ineptitude of Donald Trump’s Co-Conspirators
In a series of filings that came Friday night, the office of the special counsel, Robert Mueller, and a separate group of federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, laid out evidence that, taken together, leaves little doubt that Donald Trump sought to use his candidacy to enrich himself by approving a plan to curry political favor from Vladimir Putin in exchange for a lucrative real-estate opportunity.
It may be only part of the full story, but what we now know is a powerful tale that combines elements that are familiar from other Trumpworld scandals. It is at once shockingly corrupt, blatantly unethical, probably illegal, and yet, at the same time, shabby, small, and ineptly executed.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/swamp-chronicles/the-ineptitude-of-donald-trumps-co-conspirators
December 13: Manafort Signals That He Doesn’t Want a Hearing on His Lies
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2018/12/13/manafort-signals-that-he-doesnt-want-a-hearing-on-his-lies/
December 14: Manafort Advised Trump to Attack FBI, Discredit Russia Probe
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/paul-manafort-donald-trump-fbi-russia-probe/2018/12/14/id/894506/
-- 2019 --
January 9: The New York Times issued a correction Wednesday to a report that said former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort asked for campaign polling to be passed on to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
“A previous version of this article misidentified the people to whom Paul Manafort wanted a Russian associate to send polling data,” the Times said in its correction Wednesday. “Mr. Manafort wanted the data sent to two Ukrainian oligarchs, Serhiy Lyovochkin and Rinat Akhmetov, not Oleg V. Deripaska, a Russian oligarch close to the Kremlin.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/new-york-times-corrects-report-on-which-oligarchs-paul-manafort-wanted-to-give-polling-data
January 16: Manafort Worked With Russian-Ukrainian On Peace Plan Before -- And Long After -- Criminal Charges
Konstantin Kilimnik, the alleged Russian intelligence operative who helped run Paul Manafort's operations in Kyiv for roughly a decade, boasted of the duo's closeness to RFE/RL in a 2017 interview. "The only guy who Manafort can conceivably talk to in Ukraine is basically me," he said.
Kilimnik added that, while Manafort was working as Donald Trump's campaign chairman in 2016, he was also "briefing [Manafort] on Ukraine."
On January 15, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office suggested in a court filing that the two men spoke a lot, before and long after Manafort was criminally charged, and specifically about an initiative to bring peace to Ukraine that was likely very favorable to the Kremlin.
If confirmed, that would indicate that the pair were doing so while Manafort was working for Trump's campaign and Russia was allegedly interfering in the 2016 election to help his candidate win.
https://www.rferl.org/a/manafort-worked-with-russian-ukrainian-on-peace-plan-before----and-long-after----criminal-charges/29714137.html
January 29: Is Oleg Deripaska the missing link in the Trump-Russia investigation?
The Russian oligarch could face greater scrutiny after disclosure that Paul Manafort discussed Ukraine peace plan with associate
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/29/oleg-deripaska-paul-manafort-trump-russia-investigation
February 7: According to prosecutors, former Trump campaign chair and Konstantin Kilimnik had a discussion that referred to a "backdoor."
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/manafort-kept-working-ukraine-after-mueller-indictment-transcript-shows-n969071
February 15: Special counsel Robert Mueller reveals federal guidelines call for ex-Trump campaign boss Paul Manafort to be imprisoned for up to 24 years
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/15/special-counsel-robert-mueller-wants-ex-trump-campaign-boss-paul-manafort-imprisoned-for-up-to-24-years.html
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