SUMMARY: “Manafort is Money Again” is the call and response to my post from this past March in which I asked how Paul Manafort was ever chosen to join Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign in the first place. Thanks to dogged journalism and the Robert Mueller Special Counsel investigation, we’re beginning to peel the onion.

Back in March I wondered aloud:

Paul Manafort’s looking like a Sopranos mobster means he fits Donald Trump like a glove. How did Manafort even get in to the Trump campaign in the first place? Did Manafort have a hand in changing the pro-Russian GOP platform language? What was Trump’s role, if any, in Manafort’s shady business dealings? All of these questions are relevant to the process that stuck us with an inept radical as president.

So it was with great pleasure that I saw Rachel Maddow leading her show last night with the simple question of the Republican National Convention platform change, framed by new investigative reporting about Paul Manafort.

Here’s what we know from this week’s bombshells:

• Manafort offered to give a Putin-linked billionaire campaign briefings—and who knows what else (WaPo)
• “How do we use [this] to get whole?” was top of mind for Manafort when he joined the campaign (WaPo)
• Paulie Walnuts is currently working on a referendum for Kurdish independence in Iraq that the United States opposes (Slate)
• Manafort should “plan on being indicted” investigators reportedly told him (NYTimes)

If the world was “caving in on Paul Manafort” back in March as I wrote, it must’ve been more of a “slow-cave”—like a plumbing leak or whatever brain matter seeps out of Ann Coulter’s head every day.

RELATED: ‘SEEMS LIKE PAUL MANAFORT IS IN DEEP SHIT’ (JEZEBEL)

For my part, I worked every source I knew at the time to try and find someone in the room at the time of the RNC platform change; I was met with “no comments” or out-and-out silence. And now we’re learning why.

Here’s just a sampling of my RNC-platform-related tweets from 2016:

and one from today:

John Oliver calls Trump-Russia “Stupid Watergate” with good reason. Dating back to the 2016 RNC platform change, Trump officials acted so ineptly that they arose as much suspicion as possible. Did they ask for a handful of meaningless other changes that might’ve thrown everyone off the trail? Nope. Trump cretins requested no other platform alterations except the one concerning Russia, making it obvious (at least to me and other observers) what was to befall us later that year.

For those shouting “but this Manafort thing is separate from Trump! he’s innocent!” I say, watch this space. Either Donnie is an unwitting agent of Russia or he was fully on-board with their participation—neither or which is good for him. 🔵

Writer’s note: if you or someone you know has information on the RNC platform you’d like to share, please have a look at my secure contact options. My Twitter DMs are open and my ProtonMail handle is “reporteratl.” (Banner image credit: IAmJohnBarron on Reddit)

“Coincidence takes a lot of planning.” — Malcolm Nance

 

Not sure if this will cure *everyone’s crankies, but it’s the best news I’ve heard all week. Evanescence is back with a new record, “Synthesis,” due out next month. Despite some drama that befell the group early on, Amy Lee’s soaring vocals continue to make this band one of the must-see live events. Place your early order now on any of your platforms of choice and watch the video above. Good stuff.

 

That’s a wrap guys! Thanks for reading and, as always, for your shares and comments. We’ll see you right back here next week for another edition of CrankyYank—with other random nuggets mixed in.

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Will Pollock is an Atlanta-based freelance multimedia journalist focusing on pop-culture, politics, journalism & media, retail, real estate, travel, politics, and human interest. 

He is the author of two books (Pizza for Good & Leaving Triscuit), with more on the way. Sign up for the mailing list, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram—and check out the book links below.

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