Paul Manafort, a longtime Republican strategist and chairman of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign, helped block efforts to block his nomination at the convention, went to prison, received a pardon from President Trump and advised the effort at the Republican National Convention. It has begun. .
Mr. Manafort, a lobbyist who has worked with foreign governments for decades and has extensive experience with past Republican conventions, was at a conference last week in Milwaukee, where the convention will be held in July, according to two people briefed on the matter. It is said that he attended.
Mr. Manafort’s participation in the convention has been anticipated for weeks, as Trump advisers have discussed bringing him in to help with the event without pay, and it has already sparked controversy.
Mr. Manafort did not respond to a message seeking comment. A Trump campaign spokesperson and the RNC did not respond to emails seeking comment.
Mr. Manafort, 75, was an adviser to Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign and managed that year’s Republican National Convention. He was forced to sit out Trump’s spring 2016 campaign as he faced efforts to steal from him the delegates he needed to become the nominee at the convention.
Mr. Manafort’s involvement in the Trump campaign was relatively brief. In August 2016, he was ousted in part because of headlines about his work in a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine. Mr. Manafort has since become embroiled in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
Mr. Manafort was one of the few Trump aides to receive a prison sentence. President Trump praised him for not cooperating with the government’s investigation, and pardoned Mr. Manafort at the end of his term. The Washington Post reported this week that Mr. Manafort has re-engaged in work for foreign interests and politicians, including for a Chinese entertainment streaming service. He denied working for the service but told the newspaper he had introduced them to a potential American partner.
Mr. Manafort’s exact role in the contest remains unclear. He should not be involved in the nature of the platform itself, but is expected to be involved in advising on the staffing structure of the platform committee, according to one of the officials briefed on the matter.
Platform debates will be especially important for the party this year. In 2020, the Republican Party did not adopt a new platform amid a series of changes to its convention due to the coronavirus pandemic, but simply returned to the 2016 platform.
And in a controversy that received little attention at the time, he inserted language into his platform supporting Ukraine with military support against Russian intrusion. This change in language was one of the issues on which Mr. Mueller sought information during his investigation.
