INSIDE JOB

Manafort Owns Up to Passing Campaign Data to Suspected Russian Agent

The disgraced lobbyist previously denied disclosing the information which ended up in the hands of Russian intelligence.

Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort on Monday publicly admitted that he gave polling data to Konstantin Kilimnik, a suspected Russian intelligence asset. The U.S. Treasury Department says the data—which it described as “sensitive information on polling and campaign strategy”—was then passed to Russian intelligence services. Manafort, who is a longtime associate of Kilimnik, has previously denied passing his pal the data during the Mueller investigation into election interference. Even his forthcoming memoir, Political Prisoner, claims only that Manafort presented Kilimnik with “talking points” on publicly available polling data. “The data that I shared with him was a combination of public information and stuff for the spring that was—it was old,” Manafort told Business Insider. Mueller’s investigation previously showed, however, that Manafort ordered his deputy Rick Gates to prepare information for the meeting with Kilimnik which had been collected just two weeks prior. The internal polling data related to Trump’s popularity in 18 swing states. “It was meant to show how Clinton was vulnerable,” Manafort added.