Trump took to Twitter to express his frustrations yet again. This time, Trump wanted to know why nobody told him that the FBI was secretly investigating Paul Manafort. The president also added that if he had known that “Comey and the boys were doing a number on [Manafort],” that he wouldn’t have hired him at all, reported Fox News .
“As only one of two people left who could become President, why wouldn’t the FBI or Department of ‘Justice’ have told me that they were secretly investigating Paul Manafort (on charges that were 10 years old and have been previously dropped) during my campaign? Should have told me!”
Paul Manafort is being charged with federal crimes. These include money laundering, failing to register as an agent of a foreign principal, as well as tax and bank fraud. Manafort is also being charged for allegedly giving false information to investigators.
Previously, Manafort was appointed the head of Trump’s campaign in May 2016. He was only in the position for three months before he stepped down after allegations surfaced over Manafort’s supposed relations with the Ukrainian government, detailed The Hill .
It turned out that the FBI was conducting an investigation into Manafort’s dealings that date back to a probe from 2014. Manafort was also investigated around the 2016 presidential election.
Trump blames FBI for letting him hire Paul Manafort https://t.co/fNEqtcUN11 pic.twitter.com/b1aEffMj2v
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) June 3, 2018
Manafort’s illegal activities yielded him huge results. According to NBC News , Manafort received millions of dollars from a pro-Russian political party, and he also earned millions conducting private business with Ukrainian oligarchs. Manafort was additionally a consultant for Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych. Manafort’s work was anti-American, as the pro-Russian party reportedly helped spread information to incite violence against American marines. Regardless, Manafort claimed that he was only trying to bring Western and democratic values to the table.
If people are wondering how Trump came to hire Manafort, it appears that it was due to Trump’s need for new advisors when his nomination appeared to be in jeopardy. Time noted that Manafort was a long-time acquaintance of Trump. Different theories cite different people who recommended Manafort to Trump, including Tom Barrack and Roger Stone. Others suspect that Manafort wanted the power, and was able to convince Trump that he was the right man for the job.
However, once the media began to look into Manafort’s past, it wasn’t long before a slew of undesirable information was revealed. Moreover, Trump complained that everything was too “normal” under Manafort’s direction. Meanwhile, the media was covering Manafort’s business dealings. After Manafort left the campaign, Trump said that Manafort “was with the campaign, as you know, for a very short period of time, for a relatively short period of time.”
