This upcoming week won't be a good one for the Trump campaign.

This is a breaking story this evening, not even Monday yet and it looks like the Trump campaign already has another scandal to explain away this week.

Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.

Anti-corruption officials there say the payments earmarked for Mr. Manafort, previously unreported, are a focus of their investigation, though they have yet to determine if he actually received the cash. While Mr. Manafort is not a target in the separate inquiry of offshore activities, prosecutors say he must have realized the implications of his financial dealings.

Before he fled to Russia two years ago, Mr. Yanukovych and his Party of Regions relied heavily on the advice of Mr. Manafort and his firm, who helped them win several elections. During that period, Mr. Manafort never registered as a foreign agent with the United States Justice Department — as required of those seeking to influence American policy on behalf of foreign clients — although one of his subcontractors did.

New York Times

The New York Times is reporting that anti-corruption officials in Ukraine have discovered ledgers with payments of up to 12 million dollars for Mr. Manafort.

While working in Ukraine, Mr. Manafort had also positioned himself to profit from business deals that benefited from connections he had gained through his political consulting. One of them, according to court filings, involved a network of offshore companies that government investigators and independent journalists in Ukraine have said was used to launder public money and assets purportedly stolen by cronies of the government.

Perhaps Mr. Manafort sarcastically accepted these payments?

A Journalist on Twitter is saying this is just the "beginning" for Manafort.

@AdamWeinstein:
Speaking as someone who has a story coming this week: This is just the beginning for Manafort. It gets worse.

I wonder what else is coming?

So Trump is going around the country screaming about corruption while his campaign manager is involved in some shady business in the Ukraine. He's already down in the polls by double digits on most of them...every time he accuses Hillary of corruption it puts more pressure on himself to release those tax returns.

Everything Trump says about corruption can be countered by his campagin's close ties to Russian and Ukraine oligarchs. This guy doesn't want to support NATO countries in the region, refuses to arm western-backed rebels in the Ukraine and is infatuated with Putin.

1) Trump has praised Putin numerous times, calling him a far better leader than Obama.

2) Donald Trump has taken an anti-NATO stance.

3) Donald Trump's campaign's ONLY intervention in the entire GOP platform was to remove anti-Putin language from the platform re: Ukraine.

4) Not only that, but just days before the RNC, Carter Paige, one of Trump's foreign policy advisers traveled to Russia and gave a speech attacking America's policies towards Russia, calling America's focus on democratization and fighting inequality "hypocritical."

5) The Intelligence community has confirmed that Russian Intelligence is responsible for the hacking of the DNC, which is an obvious attempt to harm Hillary Clinton's campaign.

6) Furthermore, Donald Trump called on Russia to release/hack any emails they could get their hands on.

7) Trump's campaign manager has ties to pro-Putin oligarchs who were propped up by the Kremlin. This isn't new information. As long as 2005, there were calls to McCain's people to try and do something about Manafort because he was working against American interests in the region.

8) Now we know Manafort received a cash payment of more than $12 million. Which, I mean, seeing how good he is at running a campaign is clearly money based on competence!

Our Congress can investigate Hillary and the Russians can investigate Manfart. Sounds fair.

Manafort. LOL. The guy is right out of central casting for a crime boss movie.

I guess 'I'll get all the best people to work for me' can be interpreted several ways.

originally posted by: carewemust
Our Congress can investigate Hillary and the Russians can investigate Manfart. Sounds fair.

What should Trump do about Manafort?

Keep him or fire him?

a reply to: muse7

He'll tweet something pithy as soon as he wakes up.

The MSM is trying so hard to dig dirt on, I guess the NYTimes' opposition, that they spend precious time attacking anything their moles can dig up in regards to the Republican candidate...

Yet... no concerted effort to investigate, and FRONT page print anything that seems suspicious from their anointed one...

Do they not understand that the obvious one sided approach in reporting, while trying to hold the mantle of the 4th estate,

Doesn't fall upon deaf ears, or blind eyes....

Keep printing what makes you feel better, the folks ain't buying what you are trying to sell..

"anti-corruption officials" from a country run by a Fascist, Anti-Russian Junta. Pretty sure they can be safely ignored.

a reply to: muse7

You might go ahead and title it by the name of the story, or something along those lines.

This is not Trump. Bill and Hillary though did in fact take half a billion from Russia in the uranium deal. His speeches during that time were heavily escalated from his normal speaking fees. Sold out 20% of our uranium to them while she was Sec of State. She has met Putin many times with smiles and handshakes.

I can't force anyone to watch Clinton Cash. Only they can make that choice.

a reply to: LifeMode

I've already watched it, I think you're confusing me with someone else

a reply to: Ohanka

Sorry. Fixed it brother.

Hillary for President of the US. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.


oophs! sorry guys, wrong hillary or is it hilliary, hmm getting so confused with all these updates on how good these candidates are looking, kind of like candy in a candy jar, which one should I shovel out.

a reply to: muse7

Interesting the NYT covers this yet doesn't touch the countless and numerous instances of Hillary's corruption.

BTW, this isn't about the GOP candidate. That they ignore all the corruption from the actual DNC candidate while digging all the way to Ukraine about Paul Manafort shows how deep the bias runs in the MSM.

a reply to: muse7


There was a T.V. show a few years ago where Trump would fire people for a lot less. Since voters are voting for Trump or Clinton, either of them should immediately jettison anyone who detracts from the campaign.

Or even better, Manafort should do the honorable thing, like DNC head Debbie Schultz... and just quit. CNN and MSNBC will have a Manafort field-day for 2 or 3 news cycles, but he'll be gone from everyone else's radar almost immediately, just like what's his name? The guy who supposedly turn a reporter's arm blue, from squeezing her.

Developments and events are happening so fast in the Clinton and Trump campaign that the campaign employees are easily expendable. The voters are focused on TRUMP and CLINTON, IMO.

a reply to: JacKatMtn


Seems as though you are doing exactly what the NYT is doing with Hilary, except with Trump: ignoring anything and everything against him and his campaign.

I'm not sure why both sides seem to ignore their respective candidates' shortcomings, unless of course it is a completely partisan issue. Both candidates are garbage, each side seems to ignore that by pointing the finger at what the other candidate did while ignoring the dirt on their own candidate. Seems like cognitive dissonance has no party allegiance, it is present on both sides.

well I suspect his campaign manager will step down after recommending a replacement for him. Other than that, I don't see much hiccups from this.

originally posted by: 3NL1GHT3N3D1
a reply to: JacKatMtn

I'm not sure why both sides seem to ignore their respective candidates' shortcomings, unless of course it is a completely partisan issue. Seems like cognitive dissonance has no party allegiance, it is present on both sides.

It's similar to how parents don't see weaknesses of their own children. Everyone else's kid has issues... but not my little Eggbert!

originally posted by: AmericanRealist
well I suspect his campaign manager will step down after recommending a replacement for him. Other than that, I don't see much hiccups from this.

Exactly right, AmericanRealist. This kind of "wrong doing" is too conventional and boring. If the Mainstream Media can distort it to somehow connect with the DNC and Congressional data hacks, they might be able to get SOME traction.

Otherwise, this Manafort issue is just par for the course. Another politician committing improprieties with $$$. Hillary and Bubba won the Gold Medal for this a looooong time ago!

Why can't anyone spell Hillary correctly?

All over this site, all day I've seen this spelling butchered.

I mean don't we see it printed ad nauseum!?


P.s. She stinks.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Sorry if I came across that way... IF I had it my way, we would have 4 candidates to choose from...

I would like to see Stein, Clinton, Trump & Johnson on the debate stage..

I would love to see more than two parties secure matching Federal funds to help campaigns...

I have no problem saying that I have a BIAS in regards to Hillary Clinton... and have posted that before...

I will NOT vote for her, but I will not sink to the level of demeaning her with insults on her gender, age, physical challenges...

Her opponent may think it resonates, and it may, I don't know... but I can tell you it doesn't resonate with me...

I want choices, I want my children to have more choices than I have in the Pres election cycle....

Flip a coin, choose a party, swallow a bitter pill and vote this way....

No matter which side of the aisle, this approach has provided the voters with anything tangible...

I think they have realized that their hand is played, and the folks are pissed...

My hope is we all wake up, and send all of them packing.... McConnell, Reid, McCain, Feinstein, Pelosi, Ryan, Graham, etc etc......... Serving the nation in Congress should be a pitstop in life, not a career....

I certainly hope that DC doesn't gain statehood.... it's the nation's capital...

rassin frassin /end another rambling rant