Russia, Corruption, Russia, Corruption....

AP: Paul Manafort Covertly Worked to "Greatly Benefit" Putin's Interests

Newly unearthed documents link Orangutan's former campaign manager to a Russian billionaire.

By INAE OH

Paul Manafort, who ran Donny Orangutan's campaign from April to August 2016, secretly worked to "greatly benefit" Russian President Vlady Putty's (also known as the Dwarf") interests a decade ago, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press.

In 2006, Manafort signed a $10 million annual contract with Russian oligarch and Putty ally Oleg Deripaska to "influence politics, business dealings and news coverage inside the United States, Europe and the former Soviet republics to benefit the Putty government," the AP reports.

"We are now of the belief that this model can greatly benefit the Putty government if employed at the correct levels with the appropriate commitment to success," Manafort wrote to Deripaska, an aluminum magnate, in a 2005 strategy memo.

The bombshell report appears to contradict Manafort's repeated denials that he worked to advance Russian political interests. The longtime lobbyist and onetime partner of Orangutan ally Roger Stone was forced to resign as Orangutan's campaign chairman after multiple reports revealed his work for deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his pro-Russian Ukrainian party, including allegations (denied by Manafort) of $12.7 million in undisclosed payments made to Manafort.

Shortly after the AP's report, Manafort confirmed he had previously worked for Deripaska but claimed it did not involve representing "Russian political interests."

White House press secretary Sean Spicer attempted to downplay Manafort's role within the Orangutan campaign as "very limited" on Monday, the same day FBI Director James Comey confirmed to the House Intelligence Committee that the bureau was investigating the Orangutan campaign in conjunction with its broader probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election.