Former president in talks to employ controversial figures Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, both of whom have criminal records
Tony Diver, US EDITOR and Raoul Simons
20 March 2024 •
Donald Trump is in talks to rehire controversial former advisers for his 2024 campaign, including former convicts and far-Right figures.
After securing the Republican nomination, the former president has reportedly turned to a series of former staff members for help on his general election campaign against Joe Biden.
Mr Trump is considering hiring Paul Manafort, who went to prison for tax fraud and witness tampering. He has also conducted several meetings with Roger Stone, who was convicted of obstructing a congressional probe, according to US media reports.
Corey Lewandowski, Mr Trump’s former campaign manager, is also thought to be under consideration after he was ousted from a job at a Trump-aligned fundraising group amid accusations he sexually harassed the wife of a donor.
The meetings, reported by the New York Times, Washington Post and Axios, suggest Mr Trump is considering reassembling his 2016 campaign team for his third shot at the White House.
Mr Stone worked on the first campaign, and has given advice to politicians to “admit nothing, deny everything and launch a counterattack”.
He was jailed in 2020 for obstructing the Mueller probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. His sentence was commuted by Mr Trump, who was president at the time.
In 2020, at the Jan 6 Capitol riots, Mr Stone urged followers to “fight on until the bitter end”.
Mr Manafort, who is reportedly being considered for a campaign role, was imprisoned for tax fraud and witness tampering and was accused of lying to investigators in the Mueller probe.
The Senate Intelligence Committee said that Mr Manafort’s ties to a Russian intelligence officer during the campaign “represented a grave counterintelligence threat”.
Mr Lewandowski was an early hire on Mr Trump’s 2016 campaign, before moving to work at the Trump-aligned Super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc.
He left the job in 2021 after he was accused of sexually harassing the wife of a donor. A spokesman for Mr Trump said at the time that he “will no longer be associated with Trump World”.
A representative for Mr Lewandowski at the time described the allegations as “accusations and rumours”.
In recent months, Mr Trump has also reportedly suggested hiring Laura Loomer, a far-Right pundit and journalist, but was persuaded by his aides not to pursue her.
Ms Loomer has described herself as a “proud Islamophobe” and Islam as a “cancer on humanity”.
The news comes as Mr Trump’s wife, Melania, suggested she may soon rejoin him on the campaign trail after few public appearances in recent months.
The former first lady walked arm in arm with Mr Trump at a polling station in Palm Beach prior to his resounding victory in Florida’s Republican presidential candidate ballot on Tuesday.
It was the first time they had been seen together out in public since the funeral of Mr Trump’s mother-in-law on Jan 18.
Trump campaign officials have previously posted videos of the couple together at their Mar-a-Lago home during private events, most recently when they hosted Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, earlier this month.
Asked by a reporter in Florida if she would be joining him on the campaign trail ahead of November’s election, Mrs Trump smiled and said: “Stay tuned.”
Trump’s controversial former advisers
Paul Manafort
Longtime Republican lobbyist brought in to chair Trump’s 2016 election campaign. Convicted in two cases for tax fraud and conspiracy to defraud the US. Sentenced to 43 months in prison.
Roger Stone
Veteran political operator appointed to the Trump campaign in 2015. Sentenced to jail for obstructing the Mueller investigation but had his sentence commuted and received a full pardon from Trump before he left office.
Corey Lewandowski
Appointed as Trump’s campaign manager in 2015. Accused of sexually harassing Trashelle Odom, who is married to a Trump donor, after which Trump’s campaign announced it was parting ways.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump notched up several more victories in the Republican primary race, after becoming the party’s presumptive nominee on March 12.
Despite the former president reaching the threshold of convention delegates to secure the nomination, around 13 per cent of Republicans in Florida voted for Nikki Haley as their nominee.
Ms Haley ended her campaign on March 6, after the results of the “Super Tuesday” primaries, but refused to endorse Mr Trump. She won two primaries, in Washington, DC, and Vermont, but lost to Mr Trump in every other state.
Mr Trump also won primaries in Arizona, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio on Tuesday.
The Trump campaign was contacted for comment.
Manafort and Stone are the type of hideous, slithering creatures that are revealed when you turn over a rock.
Ukraine’s worst fears are being realized.
This hiring decision tells you all you need to know about Trump and consolidates his position as Ukraine’s most deadly and virulent enemy outside Russia.
The convicted criminals Manafort and Stone are friends of more than 40 years standing with Trump.
How Paul Manafort Helped Elect Russia’s Man in Ukraine:
https://time.com/5003623/paul-manafort-mueller-indictment-ukraine-russia/
The charges against Manafort were probably just. Stone’s however, were simply made up against him. Loomers statement,
“…Islam as a “cancer on humanity”.
is entirely accurate.
Stone’s charges were all valid and proven. He was found guilty of obstruction of a congressional investigation, five counts of making false statements to Congress, and tampering with a witness. The lies he told Congress are in the public record, and the evidence that he lied was presented in court. You can see it all laid out in the following fact check.
https://www.factcheck.org/2020/02/roger-stones-crimes/
(Note that the article provides links for everything, so you can verify it for yourself.)
Kremtrolls and magaputler trolls have swamped comments section. Samples:
Javier Navarro-Reverter
So interesting Michael Schellenberger ‘s work about the censorship industry. Every fact chequer NGO and news agency he investigates, the CIA or the NSA surfaces. The more he digs the more intelligence agencies he finds under the surface is news outlets.
That explains the strange stance of the Telegraph on Trump, Ukraine and Musk. Those three issues stand aside in the whole newspaper. Three departments assigned to pro war state agencies.
No wonder the alarms rang when the UAE was taking over…
It’s disgusting. But guess what: it’s not working. Trump support grows, Ukraine support fades, Musk is still succeeding, and the manipulated media are dying quickly.
Truth is winning.
David Barnes
Reply to Javier Navarro-Reverter
Chequer?
Russian to English translation app on the fritz again?
Javier Navarro-Reverter
But the people who fueled the false Russia collusion hoax didn’t get prosecuted. And the 51 intelligence officials who lied on the Biden corruption Laptop didn’t get prosecuted either….
Just hope Trump wins just to see thy e revenge.
Robert Williams
Reply to Javier Navarro-Reverter
What did you propose prosecuting the 51 intelligence officials FOR exactly?
Anthony Mayer
Shame on the DT and its TDS weakness.
Manafort would never have been indicted over trumped up lawfare charges had he not been working for Trump. We all know it.
“Convicts” or maybe more accurately some victims of Democrat weaponization of the legal system. Meanwhile, the obvious influence-peddling evidence accumulated on the Biden “Brand” is mostly ignored by the legacy US media. What a biased coverage.
General Bodri
But these were innocent people sentenced on fabricated charges! Would you refer to victims of Stalinism by these terms? They were technically in the same position. The US is home of political persecution these days. Wake up!
El Stug
Did anyone else bother reading past “far-right”?
Come on DT, aim a little bit higher. An alternative spin on this is he’s giving employment opportunities to reformed characters, or just that former colleagues of his were persecuted by a vengeful cabal of state actors in much the same way he’s been and is still is being.
Possibly wouldn’t be the clickbait you’re aiming for mind you.
Rolango Sportster
Manafort was stitched up by the corrupt deep state. Like Gen. Flynn. Like Steve Bannon.
Too true. Gateway Pundit comment areas are dominated by Putin tools. Same with many others. Gateway used to be a Ukraine supporter. Why they turned on Ukraine is not known by me, and their turn is quite disgusting.
Gateway Pundit is a trash site, anyway. They’re known for publishing falsehoods, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories.
Troll “Javier Navarro-Reverter”; who’s real name is likely to be Ivan, writes:
“Trump support grows, Ukraine support fades, Musk is still succeeding,…..”
That’s putler’s wish list right there.
Decent people in a position of power should be ticking off that list one by one and neutralizing them.
A cesspool is not a cesspool without the required amount of chunks of shit floating in it. Trump is making sure he’s got enough.
Looks like the semi-fascist monkey is copying his biggest hero, putler, in hiring crooks for his dirty regime.