Manafort In The Middle

WAMU 88.5

Published September 21, 2017 at 10:06 AM EDT

Paul Manafort (R), campaign manager for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, is interviewed by journalist John Dickerson (L) on the floor of the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena July 17, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Paul Manafort helped chart Donald Trump’s path to White House. But long before the lawyer-slash-lobbyist-turned-campaign chairman was a part of Trump’s team, he was a name known to the FBI.

This week, reports emerged that the intelligence agency has been monitoring Manafort for several years, starting with a warrant that allowed the FBI to look into his work as a consultant with the Ukranian government. Ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, the FBI wiretapped Manafort, according to CNN. And special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, appears to have taken a renewed interest in Manafort.

In July, FBI agents raided Manafort’s home and Mueller’s team could bring charges — although it remains unclear how or if any of the focus on Manafort connects to the broader probe on Russia and the Trump campaign.

For now, Manafort is a man caught in the middle with a lot to answer for. How did he get there?

GUESTS

Jason Maloni, Spokesman for Paul Manafort

Asha Rangappa, Associate dean at Yale Law School. She’s also a legal and national security analyst for CNN, and a former FBI agent.

Susan Hennessey, Fellow, Brookings Institute; former National Security Administration attorney.

Jan Baran, Head of the election law group at Wiley Rein LLP; former general counsel, Republican National Committee; author, “The Election Law Primer for Corporations”

Mark Mazzetti, Washington investigations editor, The New York Times; author, “The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth.”

For more, visit http://the1a.org.