Former Trump campaign chairman registering with US as foreign agent

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While investigating possible collusion during the 2016 election between the Trump campaign and Russia, Manafort was revealed to have been in proprietorship of a bank account in Cyprus, a Mediterranean island-nation known as a safe-space for money laundering (especially by Russians). When the news of the contract surfaced, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that President Trump had not been aware of Manafort's work in Russian Federation, according to The Washington Post. "I invoiced my clients and they paid via wire transfer, which I received through a USA bank". Those other payments were not confirmed in the AP's report.

Maloni would not answer questions about exactly what work Manafort could disclose. "On the face of his own words, the payments were not "cash" and were not 'illegal'".

But Manafort, who worked for the party as an worldwide political consultant, has publicly questioned the ledger's authenticity - saying no public evidence existed that he or others received payments recorded in it. He also could not say when the "appropriate steps" would be taken. The other firm involved, Mercury LLC, later said it also would register soon as a foreign agent for its work. However, both payments originated from companies that were once registered in Belize, leading some to question the expanse of Manafort's global banking activities.

Separately, federal prosecutors are probing Manafort in connection to missing Ukrainian assets after the ouster in 2014 of Yanukovych.

Federal law says USA citizens who do work on behalf of other governments must register with the Justice Department, though prosecutors rarely file charges based exclusively on that law.

Manafort, a longtime Republican political operative, led the presidential campaign from March until August previous year when Trump asked him to resign. In Ukraine, his work included not just handing over the government the pro-Russian govenrment of Viktor Yanukovych, but also arranging "spontaneous" protests that include throwing rocks at visiting US Marines and generating an excuse for Putin's invasion of Crimea. The firm, run by the brother of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign chairman John Podesta, reported in its filing that it was paid more than $1.2 million for its efforts.

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The Justice Department declined to comment. But they have previously noted that they have no way of knowing whether Manafort received the money listed next to his name.

On Wednesday, Maloni said, "Manafort's work in Ukraine was totally open and appropriate and wire transfers for global work are perfectly legal".

Still, Manafort's work continues to draw attention in Ukrainian politics.

On Tuesday, Manafort called the invoice a fraud.

He said Manafort is "credible, he's reliable, he's an unbelievable pro, I found his character be bulletproof". "The signature is not mine, and I didn't sell computers", Manafort said, noting that he believes people are taking "disparate pieces of information and distorting their significance through a campaign of smear and innuendo". It said officials there did not understand that Manafort and Gates were simultaneously being paid by the Party of Regions.

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