President’s former campaign boss made $60m from Ukraine lobbyists, say prosecutors
DONALD TRUMP’S former campaign manager made $60 million (£46 million) from Ukrainian lobbyists to fund a lavish lifestyle of antiques and tailored suits, prosecutors have claimed.
The figures emerged in court filings ahead of Paul Manafort’s trial today on tax and bank fraud charges.
It is the first full tally provided by Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, of Mr Manafort’s income from his work as a political consultant in Ukraine.
Prosecutors claim that Mr Manafort, who ran Mr Trump’s presidential election campaign for five months, hid more than $30million of that sum in offshore accounts to evade taxes.
During his three-week trial in Virginia, prosecutors plan to lay out Mr Manafort’s extensive dealings with the pro-russian Ukrainian political party of Viktor Yanukovych, who was deposed as Ukraine’s president in 2014.
In total, $75million flowed through his offshore accounts, according to court documents filed yesterday.
It is the first trial to stem from Mr Mueller’s extensive investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and will give the American public its most detailed glimpse of what his team has found in the last year. An acquittal will boost President Trump’s calls to have the investigation – which he calls a “witch hunt” – to be wound down. The conviction of Mr Manafort will add to Mr Mueller’s credibility.
Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump’s lawyer, sought to distance Mr Manafort from the president, saying he “was not involved with intimate business relationships”. He told CNN: “He has no information incriminating of the president. I know that for a fact. They can squeeze him – he doesn’t know anything. He was with him for four months.”
Mr Giuliani went on to question whether collusion – the crux of Mr Mueller’s investigation – is in fact a crime.
“[Mr Trump’s team are] not going to be colluding with Russia, which I don’t even know if that’s a crime, colluding about Russians,” he said.