Paul Manafort, chairman for Donald Trump’s campaign, said on CBS “This Morning” Wednesday that Trump has no financial relationship with Russia, calling the claim “an absurd attempt by the Clinton campaign to get the focus off what the real issue is” — Hillary Clinton’s private email server.
This Morning Co-Anchor Norah O’Donnell asked Manafort if Trump would be willing to release his taxes to be more transparent on any financial relationships he may have. Manafort said that Trump has said he will not be releasing his taxes, as they’re under audit, adding that he believes Trump has no financial relationship with Russian oligarchs.
“We have no relationship,” Manafort said.
Manafort’s comments follow Democratic Party officials saying in June that Russian government hackers had broken into the Democratic National Committee’s computer network, leading them to opposition research on Donald Trump, as well as email correspondence and chat information.
WikiLeaks leaked email correspondence between DNC staffers last week that showed attempts to undermine Bernie Sanders’ campaign, leading to DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s resignation ahead of the Democratic National Convention. Following the leak, Clinton campaign manager, Robby Mook, called the leak “disturbing” on CNN’s “State of the Union” and said he didn’t believe it to be coincidental.
The FBI has launched an investigation into the hack.
Trump has accepted funding for real estate projects from Russians in the past and held a beauty pageant in Moscow in 2013.
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