Paul Manafort, poised to rejoin Trump world, aided Chinese media deal
Source: Washington Post
Paul Manafort, poised to rejoin Trump world, aided Chinese media deal
The former Trump campaign chairman, who’s likely to help manage this summer’s GOP convention, resumed consulting work after being pardoned in 2020.
By Isaac Stanley-Becker, Beth Reinhard and Josh Dawsey
May 10, 2024 at 8:20 a.m. EDT
After pleading guilty to money laundering and obstruction of justice, Paul Manafort, the globe-trotting political consultant and former campaign chairman for Donald Trump, asked for leniency in his sentencing, telling a federal judge five years ago that he was nearly 70 years old, struggling with health concerns and remorseful for his actions.
The judge rejected his entreaties in the spring of 2019, ordering Manafort to remain behind bars for more than seven years. Less than two years later, however, Manafort’s criminal record was wiped clean when Trump pardoned him. He was among the dozens of allies, extended family members and former campaign staffers allowed to walk free. ... With his freedom, Manafort hardly retired to a quiet home life. Instead, the longtime power broker — briefly brought low by the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election — reengaged in international consulting, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post and people familiar with his activities who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.
Manafort has been assisting an effort to launch a Netflix-like mobile streaming and entertainment platform in China that, according to corporate documents, has the endorsement of the Chinese government. In an email to The Post, Manafort said he was “not involved with China” and has “had nothing to do with China, including Chinese businesses, government, individuals, or anything else,” but acknowledged that he “was asked to make introductions to U.S. studios and potential U.S. partners in the venture.”
Manafort, now 75, also sought to advise political figures in Japan and South Korea, according to a person who was approached by party officials in those countries checking on the consultant’s reputation. Manafort has roamed widely, traveling to Guatemala last year on the invitation of a migrant advocacy group called Proyecto Guatemala Migrante. The group’s leader, Verónica Pimentel, said she and a colleague discussed Latin American politics and the Latino vote with Manafort and introduced him to a Guatemalan presidential candidate, Ricardo Sagastume, who confirmed the meeting.
{snip}
Claudia Méndez Arriaza, Alice Crites, and Aaron Schaffer contributed to this report.
By Isaac Stanley-Becker
Isaac Stanley-Becker is an investigative reporter on the national staff. Twitter https://twitter.com/isaacstanbecker
By Beth Reinhard
Beth Reinhard has been a reporter at The Washington Post since 2017. She previously worked at The Wall Street Journal, National Journal, The Miami Herald and The Palm Beach Post. Twitter https://twitter.com/bethreinhard
By Josh Dawsey
Josh Dawsey is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the paper in 2017 and previously covered the White House. Before that, he covered the White House for Politico, and New York City Hall and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for the Wall Street Journal. Twitter https://twitter.com/jdawsey1
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/10/paul-manafort-pardon-donald-trump-china/
= new reply since forum marked as read
The ones that Putin and his lap dog who was President of Ukraine and let him explain the
millions of dollars he stole from the people of Ukraine.
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