Fmr. Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort to Register as Foreign Agent

"WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort will register with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for lobbying work he did on behalf of political interests in Ukraine, led at the time by a pro-Russian political party, his spokesman said Wednesday.

Manafort is the second Trump campaign adviser to have to register as a foreign agent since the election. The confirmation that he intends to register comes as the Trump administration has been facing heavy scrutiny over the foreign ties of former campaign advisers and other Trump associates.

By registering retroactively, Manafort will be acknowledging that he failed to properly disclose his work to the Justice Department as required by federal law."

Fox Bussiness News: Fmr. Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort to Register as Foreign Agent

First we have Trump's National Security Advisor Micheal Flynn hiding his working as a foreign agent, seemingly lying under oath. Then we find out Trump's Foreign Policy Advisor Clarence Page has an open FISA Court warrant for his Russian communications, and is under FBI monitoring. He's refusing to comment. Now above, we find out Trump's Campaign Manager Paul Manafort is registering as a foreign agent. All three were key people advising the President in foreign policy, until their being under investigation came to light.

Yeah that's a lot of "smoke", and it could be claimed "where there's smoke there's fire". But it also could be claimed coincidences happen. I'll keep my personal opinions to the thread itself.

This isn't really new information. He worked in a business that worked for a foreign government.

Fishking said:

This isn't really new information. He worked in a business that worked for a foreign government.

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As did John Podesta of the Hillary Clinton campaign. It's part of what happens in DC with high level consulting and or lobbying firms.

That said, if laws were broken, or misconduct done, people need to be held liable and prosecuted.

The Devil might say:

1. Why hasn't anyone shown the public hard evidence of collusion? Put up or shut up!

2. Evidence of criminality and wrongdoing point to members of Team Obama, not Team Trump.

3. We need a reset on our priorities. Has anyone looked into exactly why that elevator malfunctioned with the Good Doctor Carson in it? Liberals may have hoped Dr. Carson would plummet to his death!

Chomsky said:

"WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort will register with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for lobbying work he did on behalf of political interests in Ukraine, led at the time by a pro-Russian political party, his spokesman said Wednesday.

Manafort is the second Trump campaign adviser to have to register as a foreign agent since the election. The confirmation that he intends to register comes as the Trump administration has been facing heavy scrutiny over the foreign ties of former campaign advisers and other Trump associates.

By registering retroactively, Manafort will be acknowledging that he failed to properly disclose his work to the Justice Department as required by federal law."

Fox Bussiness News: Fmr. Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort to Register as Foreign Agent

First we have Trump's National Security Advisor Micheal Flynn hiding his working as a foreign agent, seemingly lying under oath. Then we find out Trump's Foreign Policy Advisor Clarence Page has an open FISA Court warrant for his Russian communications, and is under FBI monitoring. He's refusing to comment. Now above, we find out Trump's Campaign Manager Paul Manafort is registering as a foreign agent. All three were key people advising the President in foreign policy, until their being under investigation came to light.

Yeah that's a lot of "smoke", and it could be claimed "where there's smoke there's fire". But it also could be claimed coincidences happen. I'll keep my personal opinions to the thread itself.

Click to expand...

I am sure they and their boss and many others have had more or less close associations and business. With persons closer or further from the dark heart of Russia. May be that there were really crooked one or two. But in general? I certainly haven't read anything that looked criminal yet. But we should certainly keep an eye on this without destroying the advantages the people might have for our side.

Here's my take on this:

I suspect Flynn is minor league dirty - maybe disobeyed some regs - though he seems to have lied about his acting as a foriegn agent during his confirmation hearings.

But I suspect Manafort is far dirtier, and is in serious trouble. Major money laundering and/or influence peddling.

I don't know enough to have a strong opinion on Clarence Page.

If anyone was doing dirty stuff involving Trump's campaign, it would be Manafort. But that is yet T.B.D.

So right now we have three separate federal investigations, I suspect at least two will lead to a finding of some impropriety, but none may imply a "Russian Connection" to Trump or the campaign itself. Barring anything big with Manafort, that is.

Now what I do think might be likely, is Trump and/or his campaign and administration were aware of these encumbrances and hid them from the public. Which in itself is pretty dirty, but with a GOP Congress will likely not lead to any action against him, his administration, or his campaign.

As to the FBI, no way will I try to predict James Comey.

I do feel reasonably safe however in predicting the GOP controlled Senate investigation will not move against their same party President, as long as he plays reasonable ball in giving them what they want, or unless he turns unpopular.