A longtime Ukrainian associate of Paul Manafort who reportedly was suspected of having ties to Russian intelligence is being eyed by U.S. and Ukrainian authorities for his activities while Manafort ran Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
According to Politico, Konstantin Kilimnik took at least two trips to the United States during the presidential campaign, bringing attention to him and scrutiny from the FBI and State Department.
According to Politico, Kilimnik told operatives in Kiev and Washington he met with Manafort during an April trip to the United States – while Manafort was still Trump's campaign manager. And after a late summer trip to the United States, Kilimnik hinted he had played a role in gutting a proposed amendment to the GOP platform that would have made a more adversarial stance toward Russia, Politico reported.
It is unclear if either U.S. agency launched an official probe, or whether the interest continues, according to Politico.
Politico reported the Ukrainian prosecutor general in August launched a formal investigation into Kilimnik’s suspected ties to Russian intelligence. The prosecutor's office subsequently said it had cleared Kilimnik, Politico reported.
The revelations about the authorities' interest in Kilimnik come amid ongoing FBI and congressional probes into Russia's alleged meddling in the presidential race, as well as probes into ties between Russia and President Trump's associates.
Politico reported Manafort and Kilimnik were part of a group that formed a private equity fund to buy a Ukrainian cable and internet company, and did work on behalf of the businesses owned by Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, who later began funding the political comeback of the former Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.
Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign last August after The AP reported confidential emails from Manafort's firm contradicted his claims he had never lobbied on behalf of Ukrainian political figures in the United States.
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