Manafort backs out of Republican National Convention role: Report

Paul Manafort, once the chairman of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, has backed out of his unpaid role as an adviser for the 2024 Republican National Convention, according to a report from the New York Times.

In March, it was reported that the Republican Party had plans to bring Manafort on in an advising role for its quadrennial presidential nominating convention, but the move has come under intense scrutiny since then. The Washington Post reported Friday that Manafort has resumed international consulting work, notably after being convicted in 2018 on multiple charges that stemmed from similar activity.

In a statement from the Trump 2024 campaign, Manafort, a longtime Republican campaign adviser, said he was offering advice and suggestions about the July convention to the former president on a volunteer basis.

“However, it is clear that the media wants to use me as a distraction to try and harm President Trump and his campaign by recycling old news,” Manafort said, adding that he will “stick to the sidelines and support President Trump every other way I can.”

Manafort, 75, served as Trump’s 2016 campaign manager during the summer of that year but was replaced by Kellyanne Conway after reports that he had ties to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian politician who was stripped of his title during the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution.

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump and his associates led to a grand jury indicting Manafort. He was convicted on tax and bank fraud charges, and later obstruction of justice, which landed him a prison sentence of 73 months.

In the closing weeks of his presidency, Trump pardoned Manafort.

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“As a result of blatant prosecutorial overreach, Mr. Manafort has endured years of unfair treatment and is one of the most prominent victims of what has been revealed to be perhaps the greatest witch hunt in American history,” a release from the Trump White House reads.

The 2024 Republican National Convention is scheduled for July 15-18 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.