Manafort Claims He’s Quit Republican Convention Role

The New York Times reports:

Paul Manafort, the longtime Republican strategist and chairman of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign, who had assumed an unpaid role advising party officials on the nominating convention, has stepped aside.  Mr. Manafort’s move came after The New York Times reported that he had been on the ground in Milwaukee last week for planning meetings for the convention, as well as a Washington Post story that said he was involved in work connected to foreign officials and businesses.

“As a longtime, staunch supporter of President Trump and given my nearly 50 years experience in managing presidential conventions, I was offering my advice and suggestions to the Trump campaign on the upcoming convention in a volunteer capacity,” Mr. Manafort told The Times, in a statement provided by the Trump campaign. “However, it is clear that the media wants to use me as a distraction to try and harm President Trump and his campaign by recycling old news,” he said.

Read the full article.

“…It is clear that the media wants to use me as a distraction to try and harm President Trump and his campaign by recycling old news,” Manafort says. https://t.co/kdPfOCYLxa

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 11, 2024