Manafort pushed Ukraine hack theory, notes suggest
WASHINGTON — During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort pushed the idea that Ukraine, not Russia, was behind the hack of the Democratic National Committee’s servers, Manafort’s deputy told investigators during the special counsel’s Russia investigation. The unsubstantiated theory, advanced by President Trump even after he took office, would later help trigger the impeachment inquiry now consuming the White House.
Notes from an FBI interview were released Saturday after a lawsuit by BuzzFeed News led to public access to hundreds of pages of documents from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation. The documents included summaries of interviews with other figures, including Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.
Information related to Ukraine took on renewed interest after calls for impeachment based on efforts by the president and his administration to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democrat Joe Biden. Trump, when speaking with Ukraine’s new president in July, asked about the server and pushed for an investigation into Biden.
Manafort speculated about Ukraine’s responsibility as the campaign sought to capitalize on DNC email disclosures and as associates discussed how they could get hold of the material themselves, deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates told investigators, according to a summary of his interview with investigators.
Gates said Manafort’s assertion that Ukraine might have done it echoed the position of Konstantin Kilimnik, a Manafort business associate who had also speculated that the hack could have been carried out by Russian operatives in Ukraine. U.S. authorities have assessed that Kilimnik, who was also charged in Mueller’s investigation, has ties to Russian intelligence.
Gates also said the campaign believed that Michael Flynn, who became Trump’s first national security advisor, would be in the best position to obtain Hillary Clinton’s missing emails because of his Russia connections.
Flynn said he could use his intelligence sources to obtain the emails and was “adamant that Russians did not carry out the hack” because he believed U.S. intelligence couldn’t have figured out the source, according to the agent’s notes.
Mueller’s investigation concluded in March with a report that found insufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign to sway the 2016 election.
The report also examined multiple episodes in which Trump sought to seize control of the Russia inquiry but did not conclude whether the president had illegally obstructed justice.
Atty. Gen. William Barr concluded the president had not committed a crime.
Gates worked with Manafort in a lucrative international political consulting business that included Ukraine and later testified against him. Gates pleaded guilty last year in Mueller’s investigation and has been one of the government’s key cooperators. He has yet to be sentenced.
Manafort was sentenced to more than seven years in prison.
During his interviews with investigators, Gates also told the FBI that Donald Trump Jr. would ask where the hacked emails were during family meetings in the summer of 2016.
Gates recalled that other key campaign aides, including future Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and Flynn, also “expressed interest in obtaining the emails as well,” according to an agent’s written summary of one interview. The identity of one person who expressed interest in the emails is blanked out.
One time on the campaign aircraft, Gates told the FBI, candidate Trump said “get the emails” and appeared frustrated that more leaks were not forthcoming. Gates added that Trump told him more leaks were coming but did not indicate how Trump knew that.
Manafort emailed Kushner on Nov. 5, 2016, saying he was feeling good about the prospect of a Trump presidency. Kushner sent Manafort’s email to Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon, who replied: “we need to avoid this guy like the plague.”
“They are going to try and say the Russians worked with wiki leaks to give this victory to us,” Bannon wrote. “Paul is nice guy but can’t let word get out he is advising us.”