Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort plotted with Russians during 2016 poll, report says

Loading player...
Washington — The WikiLeaks website played a key role in Russia’s effort to influence the 2016 US presidential election in favour of Donald Trump and likely knew it was assisting Russian intelligence, a Senate intelligence committee report said on Tuesday.

The report also alleged that former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort collaborated with Russians, including oligarch Oleg Deripaska, before, during and after the 2016 US election that pitted Republican Trump against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The panel found Manafort's role and proximity to Trump created opportunities for Russian intelligence, saying his “high-level access and willingness to share information with individuals closely affiliated with the Russian intelligence services ... represented a grave counterintelligence threat.”

The assessments were contained in the fifth and final chapter of the Senate intelligence committee’s report on its three-and-a-half year probe of allegations that Russia sought to help Trump defeat Clinton.

Previous chapters have ratified US spy agencies’ findings, made public in January 2017, that Russia had sought to help Trump in 2016 by denigrating Clinton, making it harder for her to win, and harming her presidency if she did.

The last chapter of the committee report, released as Trump prepares to face off against Joe Biden in the 2020 election, is likely to be the most definitive public account of the 2016 election controversy.

Reuters
18 Aug 2020 10AM English South Africa Business News · News

Other recent episodes

Toyota Motors SA CEO Andrew Kirby

Business Day Senior Motoring correspondent Phuti Mpyane chats to Toyota Motors SA CEO Andrew Kirby about the threats to exports, tax and Chinese vehicles in SA.
24 Oct 2024 9AM 39 min

Ford injects R5bn into production of hybrid-electric bakkies

Business Day editor-in-chief Alexander Parker speaks to Ford Africa president Neale Hill about the company's decision to spend R5.2bn to turn its SA subsidiary into the only global manufacturer of plug-in, hybrid-electric Ranger bakkies.
8 Nov 2023 9AM 13 min

Digital innovation no longer up in the clouds

The Covid-19 pandemic is the ultimate catalyst for digital transformation and will greatly accelerate several trends already well under way before the pandemic. According to research by Vodafone, 71% of firms have made at least one new technology investment in direct response to the pandemic. This shows that businesses are…
13 Sep 2020 4PM 6 min