Former Trump campaign chief ‘devised plan to benefit Russia’

DONALD TRUMP’S former campaign manager made proposals that would burnish the image of Vladimir Putin’s government, while bidding for a multimillion pound contract with a Russian oligarch, it was claimed yesterday.

Paul Manafort, a political consultant who ran Mr Trump’s electoral campaign for four months last year, produced a business strategy to improve perceptions of the Russian government abroad in 2005, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Mr Manafort was then hired and paid for the work by Oleg Deripaska, an aluminium billionaire who is close to the Kremlin, AP said, citing a memo and business records.

“We are now of the belief that this model can greatly benefit the Putin Government if employed at the correct levels with the appropriate commitment to success,” Mr Manafort allegedly wrote in the 2005 memo to Mr Deripaska, cited by the agency. The strategy, Mr Manafort wrote, “will be offering a great service that can re-focus, both internally and externally, the policies of the Putin government.”

He subsequently signed a $10 million contract with Mr Deripaska. AP claimed the strategy would have been similar to lobbying and political consulting work that Mr Manafort was doing in Ukraine at the time.

In a statement, Mr Manafort said: “I have always acknowledged that I worked for Mr Deripaska and his company, Rusal, to advance its interests. I did not work for the Russian government. Once again, smear and innuendo are being used to paint a false picture. I look forward to meeting with those conducting serious investigations of these issues to discuss the actual facts.”

A spokesman for Mr Deripaska told CNN that Mr Manafort provided “investment consulting services”.

Mr Manafort was forced to step down as Mr Trump’s campaign manager in August after it emerged that he had previously worked for Viktor Yanukovych, the Russia-leaning president of Ukraine who was ousted in a revolution in 2014.

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said last night: “Paul is a former adviser and this is about a client he had last decade. Paul had clients in Asia, Africa and Europe.”

Mr Spicer said President Trump was not aware Mr Manafort had worked for an oligarch when he was hired in March last year. There was “no suggestion” Mr Manafort had acted improperly.