Paul Manafort and Oleg Deripaska

Before he joined the Trump campaign, Paul Manafort had a longstanding business relationship with aluminum magnate and close Putin ally Oleg Deripaska. In addition to working as a $10 million/year consultant to the Russian oligarch, Manafort also borrowed $19 million from Deripaska to invest in a Ukrainian television company. After Manafort failed to repay the loan, Deripaska sued him in Cayman Islands bankruptcy court but abruptly stopped trying to collect his debt a few months before Manafort went to work for Trump. Manafort lobbied trump friend Tom Barrack to push for him as Campaign Chairman, at one point telling Barrack “I really need to get to” Trump. “Despite owing millions of dollars, Manafort offered to join Trump’s campaign in an unpaid role. Moreover, just two weeks before Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination, Manafort offered to provide “private briefings” on the presidential race to Deripaska. Was Manafort’s offer an attempt to profit from his proximity to Trump? Was he trying to wipe out his debt to a Russian oligarch in Putin’s inner circle?

Oleg Deripaska Is A Russian Oligarch With Close Ties To Putin And Organized Crime

Oleg Deripaska Is A Russian Aluminum Magnate. According to the Los Angeles Times, “Deripaska was born on Jan. 2, 1968, in the city of Dzerzhinsk, about 250 miles east of Moscow. […] The Financial Times reported that by the mid-1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Deripaska had acquired a stake in a smelting factory and by the end of that decade
he had managed to secure a strong foothold in the Russian aluminum industry.” [Los Angeles Times, 3/24/17]

Deripaska Is A Close Political Ally Of Putin And Has Ties To Organized Crime. According to the Los Angeles Times, “He reputedly had ties to organized criminal groups — a charge Deripaska has denied — and to Boris Berezovsky, a Russian tycoon who is widely believed to have been instrumental in installing Vladimir Putin as prime minister and later president, according to Russian media reports.” [Los Angeles Times, 3/24/17]

Paul Manafort Was A $10 Million/Year Political Consultant To Deripaska

MANAFORT SIGNED A $10 MILLION CONTRACT WITH DERIPASKA TO PROMOTE RUSSIAN-FRIENDLY POLICIES IN THE UNITED STATES

2005: Manafort Signed A $10 Million Annual Contract With Deripaska To Promote Russia-Friendly Policies And Business Dealings In The United States And Europe. According to the Associated Press, “Before signing up with Donald Trump, former campaign manager Paul Manafort secretly worked for a Russian billionaire with a plan to ‘greatly benefit the Putin Government,’ The Associated Press has learned. The White House attempted to brush the report aside Wednesday, but it quickly raised fresh alarms in Congress about Russian links to Trump associates. Manafort proposed in a confidential strategy plan as early as June 2005 that he would influence politics, business dealings and news coverage inside the United States, Europe and former Soviet republics to benefit President Vladimir Putin’s government, even as U.S.-Russia relations under Republican President George W. Bush grew worse. Manafort pitched the plans to aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, a close Putin ally with whom Manafort eventually signed a $10 million annual contract beginning in 2006, according to interviews with several people familiar with payments to Manafort and business records obtained by the AP. ” [Associated Press, 3/22/17]

Manafort And Deripaska Maintained A Business Relationship Until At Least 2009. According to the Associated Press, “Manafort and Deripaska maintained a business relationship until at least 2009, according to one person familiar with the work.” [Associated Press, 3/22/17]

Manafort Borrowed $19 Million From Deripaska, Which He Never Repaid

Deripaska Gave Manafort $19 Million To Invest In A Ukrainian TV Company Called “Black Sea Cable.” According to the Associated Press, “Manafort’s work with Deripaska continued for years, though they had a falling out laid bare in 2014 in a Cayman Islands bankruptcy court. The billionaire gave Manafort nearly $19 million to invest in a Ukrainian TV company called Black Sea Cable, according to legal filings by Deripaska’s representatives. It said that after taking the money, Manafort and his associates stopped responding to Deripaska’s queries about how the funds had been used.” [Associated Press, 3/22/17]

Deripaska Put $19 Million Towards Manafort’s Teelvision Venture In 2008. According to CNN, “Deripaska, who owns the Russian industrial group Basic Element, also has connections to Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who worked for Derispaka as a consultant. In 2008, Deripaska invested about $19 million in a business venture launched by Manafort and other partners. The partnership invested in a Ukrainian telecommunications company – Black Sea Cable- but the deal failed. Deripaska’s subsequent legal claims against Manafort’s business venture appear to have been dropped.” [CNN, 5/24/17]

MANAFORT NEVER REPAID THE LOAN AND DERIPASKA SUED HIM IN CAYMAN ISLANDS BANKRUPTCY COURT

Manafort Stopped Responsing To Deripaska’s Attempts To Collect His Debt. According to the Associated Press, “Manafort’s work with Deripaska continued for years, though they had a falling out laid bare in 2014 in a Cayman Islands bankruptcy court. The billionaire gave Manafort nearly $19 million to invest in a Ukrainian TV company called Black Sea Cable, according to legal filings by Deripaska’s representatives. It said that after taking the money, Manafort and his associates stopped responding to Deripaska’s queries about how the funds had been used.” [Associated Press, 3/22/17]

Deripaska Stopped Trying To Collect Manafort’s Debt Three Months Before He Joined The Trump Campaign

NYT: Deripaska Stopped Pursuing His Court Actions Against Manafort In Late 2015. According to the New York Times, “A spokeswoman for Mr. Deripaska declined to comment. Mr. Deripaska appears to have stopped pursuing his court action against Mr. Manafort and his former investment partners, Rick Gates and Rick Davis, in late 2015. In addition to the $19 million he said he had invested with Mr. Manafort, Mr. Deripaska claimed he paid Mr. Manafort an additional $7.3 million in management fees.” [New York Times, 7/19/17]

MANAFORT OFFERED TO WORK FOR TRUMP WITHOUT PAY

March 2016: Trump Hired Paul Manafort. According to The Hill, “Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has reportedly hired Republican strategist Paul Manafort to lead his delegate efforts, The New York Times reported Monday. Trump confirmed the hire to the Times during a phone interview. ‘Yes, it is true,’ he said. Manafort has had past experience with nomination fights.” [The Hill, 3/28/16]

• Manafort Offered To Work For Free. According to the New York Times, “Paul Manafort is the rarest of professional pitchmen: one who knows how to sell to a salesman. That was evident by the effort he made last year to gain a foothold in President Trump’s campaign, a successful pitch documented by letters and memos that were made available by a former Trump associate. On Feb. 29, 2016, Mr. Manafort, the former lobbyist and Republican operative who now sits at the nexus of investigations into Russia’s meddling in the presidential election, reached out to Mr. Trump with a slick, carefully calibrated offer that appealed to the candidate’s need for professional guidance, thirst for political payback — and parsimony.” [New York Times, 4/8/17]

Manafort Lobbied Tom Barrack To Push Him As Campaign Chairman

TRUMP FRIEND TOM BARRACK ASKED CAMPAIGN TO HIRE MANAFORT

Barack Persuaded Trump To Hire Manafort. According to the Washington Post, “It was Barrack who persuaded Trump to hire political operative Paul Manafort — whom Barrack first met in Beirut 40 years ago — for the presidential campaign. Trump never publicly criticized Barrack for the advice, even as Manafort came under investigation by special counsel Robert S.
Mueller III in a probe examining whether the campaign colluded with Russia.” [Washington Post, 11/11/17]

Tom Barrack Was Trump’s Friend For 30 years. According to the Washington Post, “Few people are closer to Trump than Barrack, his friend for three decades. Barrack helped rescue Trump’s real estate empire years ago. He was the top fundraiser for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. He turned down a Cabinet offer, preferring to be an outside adviser, although his name is still mentioned as a potential White House chief of staff should Trump decide to choose a new one. Above all, Barrack has remained unfailingly loyal to Trump, whom he sees as a shrewd politician.” [Washington Post, 11/11/17]

Manafort Had Reached Out To Barrack To Ask Him To Push For Manafort’s Hiring

Manfort Persuaded Barrack To Push Him As Campaign Chairman; Said “I Really Need To Get To Trump.” According to the Washington Post, “Barrack supported Trump’s campaign, and shortly after Trump lost the Iowa caucuses, he reconnected with his old friend Manafort, a longtime Republican consultant. ‘I really need to get to’ Trump, Manafort said, according to Barrack. He told Barrack he wanted to work as Trump’s convention manager, helping him navigate what they expected would be a contentious affair.” [Washington Post, 11/11/17]

BARRACK LOBBIED JARED KUSHNER AND IVANKA TRUMP TO HIRE MANAFORT

Tom Barrack Sent Email To Jared Kushner And Ivanka Trump Urging The Camping To Hire Manfort. According to the Washington Post, “Barrack supported Trump’s campaign, and shortly after Trump lost the Iowa caucuses, he reconnected with his old friend Manafort, a longtime Republican consultant. ‘I really need to get to’ Trump, Manafort said, according to Barrack. He told Barrack he wanted to work as Trump’s convention manager, helping him navigate what they expected would be a contentious affair.” [Washington Post, 11/11/17]

Weeks Before Trump Got The GOP Nomination, Manafort Offered To Provide Briefings On The Presidential Race To Deripaska

July 2016: Despite Their Falling Out Over Manafort’s Unpaid Debts, Manafort Sent A Proposal To Deripaska Offering To Provide Briefings On The American Presidential Race. According to the Washington Post, “Less than two weeks before Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination, his campaign chairman offered to provide briefings on the race to a Russian billionaire closely aligned with the Kremlin, according to people familiar with the discussions. Paul Manafort made the offer in an email to an overseas intermediary, asking that a message be sent to Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate with whom Manafort had done business in the past, these people said. ‘If he needs private briefings we can accommodate,’ Manafort wrote in the July 7, 2016, email, portions of which were read to The Washington Post along with other Manafort correspondence from that time.” [Washington Post, 9/20/17]

WAS MANAFORT TRYING TO WIPE OUT HIS DEBTS TO DERIPASKA?

Washington Post: Investigators Believe Manafort’s Offer Reflected A “Willingness To Profit From His Prominent Role Alongside Trump.” According to the Washington Post, “Nonetheless, investigators believe that the exchanges, which reflect Manafort’s willingness to profit from his prominent role alongside Trump, created a potential opening for Russian interests at the highest level of a U.S. presidential campaign, according to people familiar with the probe. Those people, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters under investigation. Several of the ex­changes, which took place between Manafort and a Kiev-based employee of his international political consulting practice, focused on money that Manafort believed he was owed by Eastern European clients.” [Washington Post, 9/20/17]