Trump aide Manafort removed from plane for revoked passport

[Jose Garcia]

Source: ABC News

MIAMI -- Former Trump adviser Paul Manafort was removed from a plane at Miami International Airport before it took off for Dubai because he carried a revoked passport, officials said Wednesday.

Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta confirmed that Manafort was removed from the Emirates Airline flight without incident Sunday night but directed further questions to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That agency did not immediately respond to an email Wednesday seeking comment.

A lawyer who has represented Manafort did not immediately return a call and email seeking comment Wednesday.

Manafort, 72, led former President Donald Trump's campaign for several months during the 2016 presidential race but was ousted in August of that year after revelations about his business dealings in Ukraine.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-aide-manafort-removed-plane-revoked-passport-83621232

[PSPS]

1. "before it took off for Dubai"

[TheBlackAdder]

20. Looks like someone got tipped off and is planning a preemptive lam.

[KewlKat]

2. Maybe he was heading home to daddy Putrid

[TheBlackAdder]

24. How the actual fuck did he board a plane with an expired passport? Oh, FLORIDA!

.

Did one of Trump or DeSantis's buddies green light him, only to get pinched later?



.

[L. Coyote]

25. Revoked passport, perhaps revoked when he boarded?

Using his passport may have caused a flag to go up. Is there an indictment awaiting him? It seems reasonable to assume that Manafort expects to be indicted again. When EXACTLY was his passport revoked? After he popped up on the flight manifest?

Is there an oligarch convention in Dubai, a no extradition country? It is a sanctions safe haven for Russian oligarchs also.

Link to tweet

TheCupofJoeintheD
Could Criminal Charges be on the Horizon for #PaulManafort? US revokes His passport as Manafort tries to flee to Dubai which has no extradition Treaty with the US!!!

Link to tweet

[TheBlackAdder]

28. Wow, thanks! If that's the case, he's probably hosed.

[L. Coyote]

30. "Hosed." LOL, the perfect verb in this context.

I suddenly want to be a hoser.

[TheBlackAdder]

36. Poof! You're an Honorary Hoser.

.



.

[Evolve Dammit]

37. Time to skeedaddle.

[Warpy]

34. He could have been going there to collect a perfectly innocent bribe

although with Dubai one of the few countries on the planet with no extradition treaty, the choice is a bit suspect.

If there are any charges against him at this point, he has just proven himself to be a flight risk.

If not, one wonders what he was running from, maybe a little Novichok in his after shave?

[Botany]

4. He's fleeing the interview.

[Botany]

11. Manafort, time to get out of town.

And did he have the lovely Mrs. Manafort with him?

[Ilsa]

32. The word "woodchipper" has never meant the same. nt

[Leghorn21]

5. No one will ever know just how entirely DELIGHTED I am this morning with this

Manafort news!!!!!!!!!

SLAVA UKRAINI MOTHERFUCKER

[NCjack]

6. Fleeing !!! Hold him in jail until the House Cmte and DoJ are done with him.

[KS Toronado]

14. That's what I'm thinking!

[Rebl2]

15. 👍👍👍

[C_U_L8R]

7. Maybe they could have let him go

and not let him come back.

[iluvtennis]

8. Thinks he is above the law and can fly without a passport 🙁

Wonder why the airline checkin folks or TSA didn’t catch the expired passport. Bet they’d catch mine

[Native]

16. Not expired. It was revoked. He may not have known.

[wnylib]

26. He wouldn't have been informed?

[Native]

29. Not necessarily, and he obviously made it past the TSA checkpoint.

I read elsewhere that once his passport was scanned, the likely scenario is that it was then that a call was made to remove him from the airplane.

[wnylib]

31. That scenario would be my guess, too.

I don't know TSA protocol on this, but it seems likely that TSA employees would refer it to someone else to take action rather than handling it themselves.

[Lulu KC]

9. Totally bizarre

How did he get that far?

[whopis01]

22. That was my first thought too. n/t

[Hekate]

42. How, indeed?

[irisblue]

12. Googled..."UAE and extradition to the US.....

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-without-extradition
United Arab Emirates, no extradition treaty.
Huh go figure?

Maybe Garland & the DOJ is more stealthy then it seems

[Achilleaze]

13. Treasonous Republicans are up to no good

sneaky unAmerican wankers

[Native]

17. I wish we could find out if he's traveled anywhere outside of the U.S.since he was released in 2020

I'm dying to know when it was revoked.

[MontanaMama]

18. How many revoked passports does Manafort have in his possession?

Something stinks here…wonder what Dubai has for Manafort? Curious he’s leaving US soil when all is on fire in Ukraine.

[whopis01]

23. It could be what Dubai does not have

United Arab Emirates does not have an extradition treaty with the US.

[Hekate]

41. I think Manafort was known to have a stash of passports

Why any would still be in his possession is a mystery

[IronLionZion]

19. Revoke his citizenship too

Deport him to Russia

[SheltieLover]

27. K&R!

[CaptainTruth]

35. How did he make it on the plane with a revoked passport???

Every time I travel internationally I have to present my passport at security & it gets scanned to verify it's valid. If it was expired or revoked I couldn't get past security, much less to the gate & on the plane.

[Evolve Dammit]

39. Great question

[Akoto]

40. May not have known it was revoked, could have been to catch him leaving?

[Evolve Dammit]

38. Wonder what his specific "conditions of release" were when he got out. None?

[Princess Turandot]

43. Didn't he have a bundle in unpaid taxes due to unreported bribes..er..income?

While his pardon may have absolved him from criminal liability/punishment for that, I'd be surprised if it eliminated the actual tax obligation.

The IRS has the authority to ask State to revoke someone's passport, if a large bill is outstanding and if the taxpayer ain't cooperating.

If a reference to an IRS-related issue came up on the TSA screen, perhaps they decided to confer with higher-ups in terms of what they should do.

While it seems odd that they would let him board initially, that does have one benefit: they knew exactly where he was.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

44. Does this mean he goes back to jail?

I mean, a guy can hope can't he?