Paul Manafort—a “Grave Counterintelligence Threat”

Manafort is a disgraced political operator and lobbyist who was pushed out as Trump’s campaign manager in 2016 after he had received millions of dollars in secret payments from a Russia-aligned leader. He was subsequently found guilty of crimes, including bank fraud, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice and sentenced to more than seven years in prison—but pardoned by Trump in the final weeks of his presidency. And the guy Trump put back on payroll is more than a sleazy wheeler-dealer; he was and still is —a national security threat.

Senate Intelligence Committee released a bipartisan 966-page report investigating the Russian attack on the 2016 election. Manafort had a starring role in this document, which labeled him a “grave counterintelligence threat.” This exhaustive report depicted Manafort as a key point of contact between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence.

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The report confirmed that while Manafort served as a Trump campaign adviser he secretly shared internal campaign information with Kilimnik. The panel also disclosed that it had obtained “information Kilimnik was connected” to the operation that hacked Democratic targets & leaked the pilfered material to help Trump.

The committee concluded that Manafort schemed with Kilimnik to push out “narratives that sought to undermine evidence that Russia interfered in the 2016 US” Manafort was canoodling with a Russian spy during the campaign; he also conspired with him to cover up Putin’s clandestine operation to swing the election to Trump.

Manafort’s presence on Trump Campaign proximity to Trump created opportunities for Russian intelligence services to exert influence & acquire confidential information on the Trump Campaign. Manafort’s high-level access and willingness to share information with individuals of the Russian intelligence services, particularly Kilimnik represented a grave counterintelligence threat.
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