CNN: Manafort Wanted to Share '16 Poll Data With Ukrainian Oligarchs

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort reportedly tried to share polling data from the 2016 presidential campaign with a pair of Ukrainian oligarchs who owed him $2.4 million.

CNN reported Wednesday evening that Serhiy Lyovochkin and Rinat Akhmetov were the intended viewers of the data Manafort showed to Konstantin Kilimnik, who has alleged ties to Russian military intelligence.

The revelation Manafort, who is currently being held in an Alexandria, Virginia, jail, shared the data emerged via a paperwork snafu in a Washington, D.C. court this week.

Manafort earned millions of dollars doing political consulting work for Ukraine and received multiple wire transfers from Lyovochkin and Akhmetov, special counsel Robert Mueller's team said during Manafort's trial last summer.

According to CNN, Manafort told his accountant in a November 2016 email to expect a $2.4 million payment for consulting work he performed in Ukraine. Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni told the network the money was for work that occurred before the Trump campaign, and it was not in exchange for presidential campaign polling data.

Akhmetov is worth $4.9 billion, according to Forbes. He has ties to the Party of Regions, a political party in Ukraine that is aligned with Russian interests.

• CNN: Mystery Case Law Firm Represented Russians, Republicans
• Manafort Responded Under Seal to Accusations of Lying: Spokesman