--- title: Paul Manafort: Watch Him Deny Connections With Russia description: Despite an Associated Press report that linked the former Trump campaign chairman to Russia, he has often disavowed any ties. canonical: https://time.com/4709579/paul-manafort-russia-connections-denial/ author: TIME Video article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-22T19:13:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T08:21:44.758Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch Paul Manafort Repeatedly Deny Connections with Russia og:description: "That's absurd." og:url: https://time.com/4709579/paul-manafort-russia-connections-denial/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9b4c9781d8cb23c/6988bf70656a3f772ebcf3e9/paul-manafort1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 7360 og:image:height: 4140 og:image:alt: CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 21: Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort w og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Paul Manafort Repeatedly Deny Connections with Russia twitter:description: "That's absurd." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9b4c9781d8cb23c/6988bf70656a3f772ebcf3e9/paul-manafort1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Paul Manafort Repeatedly Deny Connections with Russia > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f4490e93-5a3e-450b-bfca-91b2fb4d1be8&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: In His Words: Paul Manafort on Russian Ties [Watch (HLS stream): In His Words: Paul Manafort on Russian Ties](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LdV4cOKm.m3u8) (1:22)  _Published 2017-03-22. Former Trump Campaign Aide Paul Manafort's mentions of his or the campaign's connections with Russia leading up to the election._ by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Mar 22, 2017 7:13 PM UTC by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Mar 22, 2017 7:13 PM UTC An [Associated Press report](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/122ae0b5848345faa88108a03de40c5a/manaforts-plan-greatly-benefit-putin-government%20%29) on Wednesday described documents showing former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort orchestrated a secret plan to benefit [Vladimir Putin’s](http://fortune.com/2017/01/28/donald-trump-call-vladimir-putin/) Russian government in the United States and Europe. The report, which is not the first to link [Manafort to either Russia or Ukraine](http://time.com/4459066/paul-manafort-donald-trump-campaign/), appear to directly contradict what Manafort has said in the past about any connections. “That’s absurd,” Manafort said when ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos asked if he had any ties to Putin in July of 2016. That wasn’t the only time he disavowed the claim. Watch the video above for all of the times Manafort has directly denied any connection or involvement. ## Transcript Agreement that I negotiated for Ukraine. And there's no basis to it. I'm always careful of the clients I take. Now you got Trump who's saying nice things about Putin, and he brings in a guy who was helping someone who is connected to Russian bad guys? We can sit down and talk foreign policy if you want any time cuz it's a very complex thing. But at the end of the day, the agreement that the current president, who I also helped get in power, signed was an agreement that I negotiated for Ukraine with the European Union. And that's the reason that there was a document for Poroshenko to sign. The work that I was doing in Ukraine was to help Ukraine get into Europe, and we succeeded. But I'm not working for any clients right now other than Mr. Trump. And are you going to make a promise in the future that if he's president, you'll be careful what clients you take? I'm always careful what clients I take. Are there any ties between Mr. Trump, you or your campaign, and Putin and his regime? No there are not. It's absurd, and there's no basis to it. We have no relationship. This is an absurd attempt by the Clinton campaign to try to get the focus off of what the real issue is. The real issue isn't even the Democratic National Committee server being hacked. The real issue is her server. The Republican Party's views when it comes to Ukraine. How much influence did you have on changing that language sir? I had none. In fact, I didn't even hear of it until after our conversation was over. 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