Clinton campaign demands Trump ‘disclose pro-Russia ties’
The campaign expressed its concern over a New York Times report that revealed $12.7m (£9.9m) of ‘off-the-books’ payments in a Ukraine ledger earmarked for campaign chair, Paul Manafort
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump is under pressure from Hillary Clinton to disclose all pro-Russia ties after the The New York Times reported a Ukrainian ledger showed millions of dollars earmarked for his campaign chairman.
The so-called “black ledger” apparently showed that the political party of former Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych designated $12.7m (£9.9m) in cash payments to Paul Manafort between 2007 and 2012. Investigators for Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau said the money was part of an illegal “off-the-books” system of payment.
Mr Manafort vehemently denied the allegations from the New York newspaper, saying that there is no evidence to suggest he accepted such payments.
Additionally, investigators found that Mr Manafort was a part of an $18m deal to sell Ukrainian cable television assets, which prosecutors linked to offshore shell companies. Prosecutors are not focusing on Mr Manafort in this aspect of the investigation, but feel that he must have known the nature of the business.
“He understood what was happening in Ukraine,” Vitaliy Kasko, a former official at the general prosecutor’s office in Kiev, told The New York Times. “It would have to be clear to any reasonable person that the Yanukovych clan, when it came to power, was engaged in corruption.”
Mr Kasko added that it was “impossible to imagine” somebody like Mr Manafort would think the financial dealings were legitimate.
“Once again, The New York Times has chosen to purposefully ignore facts and professional journalism to fit their political agenda, choosing to attack my character and reputation rather than present an honest report,” said Mr Manafort. “I have never received a single ‘off-the-books cash payment’ as falsely reported by The New York Times, nor have I ever done work for the governments of Ukraine or Russia.”
“The suggestion that I accepted cash payments is unfounded, silly, and nonsensical.”
Mr Manafort’s comments echo an earlier defence made by Mr Trump, when the newspaper published a report detailing troubles within the campaign, the property tycoon accused The New York Times of fabricating stories to promote a pro-Clinton bias.
But the latest report inflamed concerns from the Clinton campaign, especially given Mr Trump’s recent off-hand remarks suggesting Russian intelligence should hack his Democratic opponent.
“Donald Trump has a responsibility to disclose campaign chair Paul Manafort’s and all other campaign employees’ and advisers’ ties to Russian or pro-Kremlin entities,” said Clinton campaign chairman Robby Mook.
However, Mr Manafort maintains that he simply did work as a “campaign professional” for an international campaign when he worked with Mr Yanukovych.
Mr Manafort began his work as a consultant for the Party of Regions and Mr Yanukovych, first unofficially in 2004, then officially in 2006.
“My work in Ukraine ceased following the country’s parliamentary elections in October 2014,” Mr Manafort said.
Mr Yanukovych served as Ukraine president in 2010, but fled to Russia after the 2014 revolution, leaving behind him a trail of alleged corruption.