As the White House attempts to distance itself from indicted former campaign chairman Paul Manafort in pretending to know little about his past and claiming his alleged crimes happened before he joined the Trump team, CIR's Advisory Board member Evelyn Farkas, Ph.D. writes the following for the New York Times:
Mr. Manafort’s work in Ukraine, which began in 2006, has always in a real sense been about Russia — and may also have been about the campaign.
Mr. Manafort didn’t go to Ukraine to advance the interests of democracy, Western Europe or the United States. He was there to help an increasingly corrupt Russia-friendly politician, who became a Kremlin puppet during the time Mr. Manafort worked for him. In the context of the standoff between democracy and autocracy, his legal and potentially illicit activities demonstrate that he ultimately took a side.
Read the full piece: With Manafort, It Really Is About Russia, Not Ukraine (NYT Op-Ed)