Confusing contacts...why?

[ewagner]

I think I’ve been following the Manafort drama very closely but it looks like I missed something. Maybe my friends here on DU can point me in the right direction. Here’s the scenario I think is playing out and the questions.
I think Manafort was placed in the Trump Campaign by either Dirapaska (through his buddy Kilimnik) to make sure that Trump was on-board with release of the Russian sanctions and to secure compliance with Russian policies in Crimea and Ukraine. Why Manafort? Because Manafort owed millions to the Russian Oligarch and I suspect he worked for Trump “for free” under orders from that oligarch in an offer he couldn’t refuse.

The questions that I can’t answer are these: Who recommended Manafort to Trump? Or, how in the hell did Manafort ingratiate himself to Trump enough to take over his campaign? And….did Manafort know that Trump was dealing through Cohen for a Trump Tower in Moscow?

To make it even more confusing, look at all the attempts to create “back channels” of communication between Moscow and Trump. There were (as reported) over 100 separate communications between Trump officials and Russian agents or representatives. Why? Why did they need to do this while Manafort was running a Russian operation at the top of the Trump campaign?
The Trump Tower meeting is a mystery also. The Russians already had Manafort on board, why did they need to set up a separate meeting in Trump Tower?

My personal theory is that multiple Russian agencies/oligarchs were playing Trump for different reasons and decided to proceed on multiple fronts to compromise and corrupt the campaign. It appears to be far more DISORGANIZED than a coherent Intelligence agency operation.

Anybody else have a theory on this?

[fleur-de-lisa]

1. Manafort had a history as a republican political advisor. He was not a political neophyte.

He worked on the presidential campaigns for Ford, Reagan, Poppy Bush, and Dole. And he had a long association with Tom Barrack and Roger Stone. I think they pushed Trump to add Manafort to the 2016 campaign.

[brooklynite]

3. He also had a real-estate history in NYC

As part of the plea deal, Manafort agreed to surrender several properties that he owns throughout the U.S., including four in New York City, to the federal government. Those are:

-A brownstone at 377 Union Street in Carroll Gardens, which Manafort purchased for approximately $3 million in 2012;
-A condo at 29 Howard Street in Soho, which Manafort claimed was his daughter’s primary residence, but was actually being rented on Airbnb;
-An apartment at 123 Baxter Street in Chinatown that Manafort’s daughter, Andrea, purchased in 2007, although one of her father’s shell companies is listed as a co-owner;
-And a 43rd-floor condo at Trump Tower that Manafort purchased in 2006 for roughly $3.7 million.

https://ny.curbed.com/2018/9/14/17861532/paul-manafort-plea-deal-new-york-real-estate

Probably Trump became aware of him through the industry

[ewagner]

4. Barrack and Stone....

good possibility.

[kentuck]

6. I think those two may be the keys to understanding this entire conspiracy?

"Who recommended Manafort to Trump?"

That may be the next big piece of the puzzle? My money is on Roger Stone.

Barrack led the Inauguration Committee. I would assume that he got his fair share from the over $100 million they raised ?

Manafort was used by the Russians. Would we call him a "Russian spy"?

Roger Stone and Donald Trump are long-time friends. They may have had similar interests?

This is truly, a grand conspiracy.

[ewagner]

8. Some thoughts...

Manafort wasn't a spy...he was a plant....he was put there to lock certain policies in place and to "normalize" Russia policies.

I think Barrack was the key to funneling the missing $40 million into various Trump organizations...

I've been trying to find the "eye of the storm"...who was calling the shots? Who was supplying the brain power behind it ....really, the mistakes these guys have made make the "brain power" question sort of a joke... they were pretty "ham-fisted" in this.

The only thing that rings a bell for me at the moment is that the whole mess sort of has the Trump brand on it. I mean he's screwed up almost everything he's ever touched from business to marriages to the Presidency...and this operation seems to be the same...

[kentuck]

11. Also, I think the Trump Tower deal in Moscow played a huge role.

That was what kept Trump in the game.

And Putin probably knew about?

If so, then Putin had secrets of Trump that Trump was keeping from the American people. In other words, he was compromised. (kompromat)

In my opinion, it is mostly a cabal of international criminals and money launderers. Each of them thinks they are playing the other.

Was it Roger Stone that introduced Manafort to the Trump campaign? If so, that is a big key to who was in contact with Russian agents?

The entire foundation of this conspiracy is built on lies. No one can tell the truth. There is no honor amongst thieves and there will be no satisfactory answers until we get to the truth.

[rampartc]

2. occam's razor : stone, manafort and the others are an old team

that come together every 4 years to play dirty politics for fun and money.

manafort's gig with the ukeranians was getting a bit dangerous as well.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/03/paul-manafort-american-hustler/550925/.

[Gothmog]

5. Manafort is a Russian agent

Link to tweet

?s=20

[kentuck]

7. An agent? An asset?...

...or spy? What is the difference?

[boston bean]

9. Manafort and Stone were business partners and both decades old "friends"of Trumpass.

[ewagner]

10. You make an interesting point....

Stone, especially, has been in the dirty tricks business since the days of Nixon...he has a well-established network or cohorts and contacts AND he knows the system and how it works...

those are certainly assets in this kind of operation...and then

Add Manafort added the experience and contacts for Russian oligarchs and leader(s) and now you've got this mess.

[kentuck]

12. I think Trump's plan was to keep the Trump Tower Moscow deal secret...

Then, if he did not win the election, which he did not think he would win, then he would go back to negotiating the "deal". The Deutsch Bank turned down his request for a loan in early 2016, I think it has been reported? Was that loan meant to be for the Tower?

Regardless, Trump kept kissing Putin's ass. He would never say a harsh word against him. At least, Putin was a "great leader", unlike Obama.

I think the Russians, and Putin, saw an opportunity to exploit the divisions within our country to our detriment and to their benefit. They saw Trump as the vehicle to accomplish that.

Trump did not disappoint. Everything he talked about was for the benefit of Russia, and himself. From NATO to Syria, he did whatever Putin wanted him to do.

He was Putin's puppet.

He is still Putin's puppet.

[Gothmog]

13. From Malcom Nance

Link to tweet

?s=20