Manafort is the key to the whole Putin/Trump/Ukraine plot.

[lagomorph777]

67. The change was in secret; it took a long time to figure out who did it.

https://www.npr.org/2017/12/04/568310790/2016-rnc-delegate-trump-directed-change-to-party-platform-on-ukraine-support

"Updated at 3:36 p.m. E.D.T. on December 4.

President Trump may have been involved with a change to the Republican Party campaign platform last year that watered down support for U.S. assistance to Ukraine, according to new information from someone who was involved.

Diana Denman, a Republican delegate who supported arming U.S. allies in Ukraine, has told people that Trump aide J.D. Gordon said at the Republican Convention in 2016 that Trump directed him to support weakening that position in the official platform."

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/paul-manafort-ukraine-platform_n_59f72c88e4b07fdc5fbf9007

Paul Manafort's Indictment Sheds More Light On Pro-Russia Change To GOP Platform
The former Trump campaign chairman is charged with laundering millions from Vladimir Putin's allies in Ukraine.

By
Igor Bobic
Oct. 30, 2017, 11:10 AM EDT | Updated Oct. 30, 2017

The conspiracy and money laundering charges against former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort raise new questions about a mysterious pro-Russia change to the Republican Party platform made at the 2016 GOP convention in Cleveland.

Manafort, along with business associate Rick Gates, were indicted Monday as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s presidential election led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Both Trump and Manafort denied having anything to do with the last-minute change to the party platform. But the financial benefits Manafort received from pro-Russia politicians in Ukraine, as detailed in the charges against him, intensifies the skepticism that has long surrounded his denial.

The 12-count grand jury indictment alleges that Manafort and Gates “generated tens of millions of dollars in income” as a result of their lobbying for pro-Russian interests in Ukraine.

“In order to hide Ukraine payments from United States authorities, from approximately 2006 through at least 2016, Manafort and Gates laundered the money through scores of United States and foreign corporations, partnerships, and bank accounts,” the indictment says.

In total, $75 million flowed through Manafort and Gates’ offshore accounts, according to the indictment. Manafort allegedly laundered $18 million, while Gates allegedly laundered $3 million.

The change to the GOP platform dropped a call for the U.S. to provide arms to Ukraine in response to aggressive moves by Russia that included the occupation and eventual annexation of the Crimea province from Ukraine in 2014. After the annexation, Russian President Vladimir Putin continued to fuel violent unrest in other parts of the Ukraine.

The amendment to the Republican platform came as a surprise just days before Trump was officially nominated for president at the party’s convention. Two Republican National Committee officials privately acknowledged at the time that Trump’s campaign pushed for the change. Trump denied involvement, however.

“I wasn’t involved in that. Honestly, I was not involved,” Trump said.