Russia Accuses Ukraine Of Attempting To Sabotage Trump By Leaking Dirt About Adviser Paul Manafort

Politico reports:

A top Russian official is accusing the Ukrainian government of undermining Donald Trump’s presidential campaign by trashing him on social media and disseminating dirt on one of his close associates. A spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday contended that the Ukrainian government over the summer damaged Trump’s campaign by implicating his then-campaign chief Paul Manafort in a corruption scandal involving a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party funded by oligarchs.

“Ukraine seriously complicated the work of Trump’s election campaign headquarters by planting information according to which Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chairman, allegedly accepted money from Ukrainian oligarchs,” Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing, according to a transcript of her remarks posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website. “All of you have heard this remarkable story,” she told assembled reporters.

The renewed scrutiny of Manafort’s dealings in Ukraine comes at an awkward time for the veteran operative and for Trump. As the president-elect works to assemble his foreign policy team, his stance toward Russia and its neighbors is being closely watched by the international community. Manafort, who had been pushed out of Trump’s campaign in late August because of growing press scrutiny of his work in Ukraine in recent weeks has re-emerged as an informal adviser as President-elect Trump has assembled his administration, according to a handful of people around the transition team.

There’s much more at the link.