Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been added to the list of names that special counsel is investigating for possible ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia’s government in the 2016 election, according to the Associated Press.
Special counsel Robert Mueller may also open the investigation by examining the attorney general and deputy attorney general’s role in the dismissing of FBI Director James Comey. Trump abruptly fired Comey on May 9 amid the ongoing FBI investigation into Russia potentially meddling with the election.
Manafort had been tangled in rumors about ties to pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians. His firm organized a secret Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine’s then-ruling political party and secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to advance the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Associated Press reported. Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, never disclosed their work as foreign agents as required under federal law, according to the AP. Manafort stepped down as chairman of the Trump campaign back in August 2016, shortly after Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway were added to the staff.
In a confidential strategy plan in 2005, AP reports, Manafort proposed to influence politics, business dealings and news coverage in the U.S., Europe and the ex-Soviet republics to advance the interests of the Putin government at a time when the U.S.-Russia relations were deteriorating. The new alleged information contradict assertions by the Trump administration and Manafort himself that he never worked for Russian interests.
Law enforcement and spy officials have been invited by the Senate intelligence committee to testify at a hearing Wednesday, June 7, about the federal laws covering foreign intelligence gathering. It is expected that lawmakers will question the committee’s investigation into Russian activities during the presidential campaign and election.