# Paul Manafort Trump 2016 campaign chairman (March-August 2016) who the bipartisan [[Senate Intelligence Committee]] identified as **"the single most direct tie between senior Trump Campaign officials and the Russian intelligence services."** ## Ukraine Consulting (2004-2014) Ran a multi-million-dollar political consulting operation ($60M+) in Ukraine for pro-Russian President [[Viktor Yanukovych]], working alongside [[Konstantin Kilimnik]], later identified as a Russian intelligence officer. Manafort helped rebrand Yanukovych and orchestrated his 2010 election victory. ## Trump Campaign (2016) - **March 2016**: Joins campaign to manage Republican National Convention - **April 2016**: Becomes campaign chairman - **May 2016**: Kilimnik requests Manafort provide "private briefings" to **[[Oleg Deripaska]]**, Russian billionaire "closely aligned with Putin" - **June 9, 2016**: Attends [[Trump Tower Meeting June 2016]] with Russian operatives promising Clinton dirt - **August 2, 2016**: Meets Kilimnik at Grand Havana Room, NYC — **shares detailed internal campaign polling data** and discusses Ukraine "peace plan" favorable to Kremlin (the [[Mariupol Plan]] to return Yanukovych as head of Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine) - **August 19, 2016**: Resigns amid reports of Ukraine work ## Convictions and Pardon - October 2017: Indicted on 12 counts of conspiracy and financial crimes - August 2018: Convicted of 8 counts of bank/tax fraud (Virginia) - September 2018: Pleads guilty to conspiracy charges (D.C.) - Sentenced to 7.5 years combined - **Pardoned by Trump, December 2020** ## Significance The Manafort-Kilimnik polling data transfer is the single most damning established fact in the Trump-[[Russia]] relationship. A campaign chairman sharing internal polling data with a Russian intelligence officer during an election in which Russia was actively interfering represents an extraordinary convergence — regardless of whether it meets the legal standard for criminal conspiracy. ## Notable Quotes Manafort is documented far more through actions than quotable lines; these two are his own words, on paper, bracketing the Deripaska relationship at both ends. - [[Paul Manafort - greatly benefit the Putin Government]] — strategy memo to [[Oleg Deripaska]], 2005. His written pitch to run a Kremlin-favorable influence operation, eleven years before the campaign. - [[Paul Manafort - private briefings we can accommodate]] — email to [[Konstantin Kilimnik]], July 2016. Offering campaign briefings to Deripaska while chairing Trump's campaign.