![\"Paul](\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/manafort-1.jpeg?resize=600%2C355\")
<\/p>\nEx-Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort Had $10M Contract to Advance Interests of Vladimir Putin<\/b><\/p>\n
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In a revelation which \u201cappears to contradict assertions by the Trump administration and Manafort himself,\u201d the AP reports <\/a>that ten years ago Manafort had a $10 million contract with\u00a0a Russian billionaire \u201cto undermine anti-Russian opposition across former Soviet republics.\u201d<\/p>\n The AP reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n 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 the former Soviet republics to benefit the Putin government, even as U.S.-Russia relations under Republican President George W. Bush grew worse. Manafort pitched the plans to Russian 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. Manafort and Deripaska maintained a business relationship until at least 2009, according to one person familiar with the work<\/p>\n Manafort denies that his work represented Russian political interests and called the AP story a \u201csmear campaign\u201d\u00a0in which his work was being misrepresented as \u201cnefarious\u201d toward the U.S.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, since Comey\u2019s revelation that the FBI is investigating Trump\u2019s links to Russia, the Trump\u00a0administration has been trying to distance itself from Manafort. Earlier this week Sean Spicer claimed that Manafort only had a \u201climited role\u201d in the campaign<\/a> even though he ran it for five full months.<\/p>\n The post Ex-Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort Had $10M Contract to Advance Interests of Vladimir Putin<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\nRELATED:\u00a0Sean Spicer Claims Paul Manafort, Who Was Campaign Manager for 5 Months, Had \u2018Limited Role\u2019 in Campaign: WATCH<\/a><\/em><\/h2>\n