Detectives from the Ukrainian National Anti - Corruption Bureau have said that a further ten entries bring the total amount of payments designated for Mr Manafort to $ 12.7 million Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Fresh details of alleged secret payments allocated for Paul Manafort by the pro - Russian party of Ukraine ’s former president have emerged after 12 itemised regime accounting entries , totalling $ 7.61 million , were obtained by The Times . The payments designated for the man who would later become Donald Trump ’s campaign chief were detailed in the “ black ” accounting ledger of Viktor Yanukovych ’s ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff regime . The ledger was used to record $ 2 billion allegedly handed out “ under the table ” to political consultants , election commissioners , ministers , parliamentarians , judges and journalists from 2007 to 2012 , according to Ukrainian investigators . Officers believe the money was taken from a clandestine cash reserve made up of bribes paid to party officials , but have yet to prove their theory .

What this means for the Trump campaign This controversy highlights the questionable nature of international consulting that has been a tenet of Manafort ’s work since the ‘ 80s , when he worked with Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos ( who implemented martial law and then ousted by the People Power Revolution ) and later with other dictatorial leaders in the Dominican Republic , Kenya , Somalia , and more . According to the Times , Manafort continued working after Yanukovych’s​ removal from office , " helping allies of the ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff president and others form a political bloc that opposed the new pro - Western administration . " While none of Manafort 's credentials are ones that an American presidential candidate should be eager to be associated with , Trump has been far from shy about his positive feelings for the Kremlin over the years . Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow - if so , will he become my new best friend ?

Turmoil in Turkey 's armed forces raises questions about its ability to contain the Islamic State militant threat in neighboring Syria and the renewed Kurdish insurgency in its southeast , military analysts say . The AK Party , founded by Erdogan and in power since 2002 , has long had testy relations with the military , which for decades saw itself as the ultimate guardian of Turkey 's secular order and legacy of the nation 's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk . The military has ousted personnel.endposition.na four governments in the past 60 years . However , Erdogan says the armed forces have been infiltrated in recent years by Gulen 's supporters . " The army has to stop being the army of the Fethullah Gulen terrorist organization , " Justice Minister Bozdag said .

Less than a month after Roger Ailes was ousted personnel.endposition.na as chairman of Fox News amid a growing list of sexual harassment allegations , Donald Trump has hired Ailes to help him prepare for the upcoming presidential debates against Hillary Clinton , the New York Times reports . Multiple sources , who spoke on the condition of anonymity , confirmed the alliance to the Times . Two of the sources told the paper that Ailes ’ role could “ extend beyond the debates ” if Trump were to be elected president .

“ It seems like he ca n’t decide what to do , he ca n’t decide on which side he is , he ’s trying to be good for all , he ’s trying to play his own game , ” said Dmytro Anopchenko , a well - known Ukrainian journalist . Oksana Nechyporenko was among the protesters who hit the streets in late 2013 and early 2014 in Kiev , after the country ’s then - president , Viktor Yanukovych , decided to abandon an economic agreement with the EU . The protests turned into a movement that ousted personnel.endposition.na the government . Today Nechyporenko is active with organizations that are pushing for reforms in Ukraine , where corruption is rife . She gushes with gratitude for Vice President Joe Biden because of his strong interest in Ukraine .

Same as last time w/ Bernie . Unacceptable ! ” At the Republican convention in Cleveland , the longtime Republican activist and current Trump ally Roger Stone told me that Trump would appear as planned and “ debate circles around Hillary Clinton , ” as he had with his opponents in the primaries . A month later , news reports said that the ousted personnel.endposition.na founder of Fox News , Roger Ailes , would be helping Trump prepare for the debates . Obviously , everything about the Trump campaign has been improvisational , and he may recalculate until the last minute as to whether he has more to gain or lose by showing up . Something roughly similar has happened before .

As secretary of state and the leading champion of the intervention , that planning would surely have been Clinton ’s primary responsibility . Libya was n’t the only country Clinton meddled in . Following in the footsteps of her mentor , former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger , Clinton supported and legitimized the right - wing Honduran military coup that ousted personnel.endposition.na democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya in 2009 , plunging Honduras into record - setting violence that sent thousands of children fleeing for their lives . Clinton later advocated for the deportation of tens of thousands of unaccompanied Central American refugee children who sought asylum in the US in 2014 to “ send a message ” to their parents that “ just because your child gets across the border , that does n’t mean the child gets to stay . ” Nearly a third of those children had fled post - coup violence in Honduras .

" As a consequence of Ukraine 's payment default … a formal legal complaint against Ukraine will soon be filed in an English court , " said a statement from the Russian finance ministry . In December , Kyiv announced it would be putting a moratorium on repayment to Russia , saying Moscow refused to sign a restructuring agreement despite Russian President Vladimir Putin 's vow to sue the country if it defaulted on the loan . The debt dates to 2013 when Moscow offered the loan to Ukraine under former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych , the pro - Russia politician ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff from power during pro - European protests . However , the ministry statement noted that the legal action did not " preclude " talks to negotiate the terms of repayment . " The Russian Federation would carefully examine any meaningful proposal from Ukraine and believes that the commencement of legal proceedings does not preclude a constructive dialogue with a view to reaching an acceptable solution , " the statement added .

Officials also noted Trump ’s own connections to the Russian government . Putin has publicly praised the nominee , who said he was “ honored ” by the compliment . Trump ’s campaign manager , Paul Manafort , was a consultant for Viktor Yanukovych , the former president of Ukraine who was ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff for his pro - Moscow orientation ( and now lives in Russia ) . One of Trump ’s top national security advisers , retired Army Gen. Michael Flynn , sat with Putin at a dinner celebrating the 10th anniversary of Kremlin - backed media network RT and was paid to give a speech at the event ; Flynn later retweeted an anti - Semitic message that called into question any Kremlin - Trump link . Another Trump adviser , Carter Page , recently denounced America ’s “ often - hypocritical focus on democratization ” while in Moscow .

In May 2014 , the CNI hosted a roundtable discussion at which the director of the Kremlin - backed Institute for Democracy and Cooperation strongly defended Russia ’s position in Ukraine . In April , Trump chose the CNI as the venue for his first major foreign policy speech , and the audience included Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak . Trump ’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort has longstanding ties to Ukraine ’s Kremlin - backed former President Viktor Yanukovych , advising on campaigning for his Party of Regions in the 2006 parliamentary elections and paving the way for Yanukovych ’s ascent to prime minister and then the presidency , from which he was ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff in 2014 amid massive pro - EU protests . Ukrainian parliamentarian Serhiy Leshchenko wrote in The Guardian that he had seen “ so - called ‘ shadow accounting’ documents ” that show “ a total of $ 12.7 m of payments made to Manafort ” by the Party of the Regions , at least $ 2.2 million of which , according to the AP , was channeled to two prominent Washington lobbying firms in 2012 . Manafort denies any wrongdoing , though the very public discussion of his Ukrainian business connections certainly played a part in his being sidelined as Trump ’s campaign manager in mid - August .

“ Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross - section of a lot of our assets , ” Trump ’s son , Donald Junior reportedly said in 2008 . “ We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia . ” Trump ’s campaign manager Paul Manafort also used to be a lobbyist for the pro - Russian president of Ukraine , who was ousted personnel.endposition.na in 2014 . The Clinton campaign has accused Moscow of trying to meddle in the US election and help Trump . Adviser John Podesta pointed to a “ bromance ” between Trump and Putin .

Accounts of the controversial payments surfaced this weekend when The New York Times reported that Manafort 's name appears on a list of payments amounting to $ 12.7 million from 2007 to 2012 . A spokesman for the Ukrainian Anti - Corruption Bureau confirmed the details in the Times story . In the period covered by the payment list , Manafort worked for former Ukrainian President Viktor F. Yanukovych , who was supportive of Russia 's President Vladimir Putin and was ousted personnel.endposition.na in 2014 . The bureau spokesman emphasized that so far it has not been confirmed whether Manafort received the cash , since the bureau has not yet been able to confirm if signatures in the recipient column are Manafort 's or not . The spokesman said the Anti - Corruption Bureau is conducting an analysis of the signatures .

He was a close adviser to Viktor Yanukovych , the disgraced Ukrainian president who was toppled in 2014 . Yanukovych , who has been dogged by a criminal record and accusations of links to organised crime , is accused in Ukraine of having been in league with Putin . A popular uprising eventually ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff him from power and his flight to Russia two years ago was quickly followed by the Kremlin ’s military onslaught on Ukraine , and the seizure of Crimea . Mr Manafort clearly saw nothing wrong in devoting the best part of a decade to polishing the image of Yanukovych , a man reviled by his own people , and most Western countries , as a Kremlin stooge . Even more startling is the behaviour of one of America ’s top spymasters , General Michael Flynn , who now advises Donald Trump .

But Trump immediately began straining against Manafort 's efforts to get him to stick to scripted speeches and stop bashing other Republicans , the parents of war dead , Mexican judges and other such unsuitable targets for general - election - season abuse . Before long , the internal tensions leaked to The New York Times , which in an August 13th article detailed Manafort 's fruitless efforts to get Trump to focus and stop shooting himself in the face . The article naturally infuriated the candidate , who then essentially ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff Manafort and replaced him with Bannon , chief of the far - right Breitbart media empire and perhaps the only person in America with a worse reputation than Trump for hotheadedness and choleric racism . Trump would have been better off just conceding the loss from the outset and spending the general - election season going up in flames , showing up at debates guzzling martinis and wearing a lampshade on his head , directing daily tirades at cancer kids and nuns , playing the election like an Andy Kaufman prank . Instead , he vacillated wildly , trying in one moment to look " presidential " before reversing course seconds later to purge his staff and go on politically destructive rampages .

Well , in 1980 he ran Ronald Reagan 's campaign in the south , he was the man that had Reagan speaking in racial semaphore in Mississippi . Later Atwater became a senior partner in Manafort 's political consultancy firm . In another twist , on Sunday night The New York Times revealed Ukraine anti - corruption investigators have discovered a ledger that suggests the ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff pro - Russian administration of Viktor Yanukovych , who Manafort worked for in 2010 , directed to him payments of $ US12.7 million . He has denied receiving any such payments . ( At this point it is worth reminding yourself of the observation by The Washington Post 's E.J.

8 % confident in their national government 5 % say government doing enough to fight corruption WASHINGTON , D.C. -- Despite signs last year that Ukraine 's then - new president was starting to rebuild Ukrainians ' trust in their leadership , President Petro Poroshenko is now less popular than his predecessor Viktor Yanukovych was before he was ousted personnel.endposition.na . After more than a year in office , 17 % of Ukrainians approve of the job that Poroshenko is doing . This approval rating is down sharply from 47 % a few months after his election in May 2014 .

He denied that Mr. Manafort had received management fees from Pericles during its operation , but said that one of Mr. Manafort ’s partners , Rick Gates , who is also working on the Trump campaign , had received a “ nominal ” sum . Court papers indicate that Pericles ’ only deal involved Black Sea Cable . Mr. Manafort continued working in Ukraine after the demise of Mr. Yanukovych ’s government , helping allies of the ousted personnel.endposition.na president and others form a political bloc that opposed the new pro - Western administration . Some of his aides were in Ukraine as recently as this year , and Ukrainian company records give no indication that Mr. Manafort has formally dissolved the local branch of his company , Davis Manafort International , directed by a longtime assistant , Konstantin V. Kilimnik . At Mr. Manafort ’s old office on Sofiivska Street , new tenants said they had discovered several curiosities apparently left behind , including a knee X - ray signed by Mr. Yanukovych , possibly referring to tennis matches played between Mr. Manafort and Mr. Yanukovych , who had spoken publicly of a knee ailment affecting his game .

Accounts of the controversial payments surfaced this weekend when The New York Times reported that Manafort 's name appears on a list of payments amounting to $ 12.7 million from 2007 to 2012 . A spokesman for the Ukrainian Anti - Corruption Bureau confirmed the details in the Times story . In the period covered by the payment list , Manafort worked for former Ukrainian President Viktor F. Yanukovych , who was supportive of Russia 's President Vladimir Putin and was ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff in 2014 . The bureau spokesman emphasized that so far it has not been confirmed whether Manafort received the cash , since the bureau has not yet been able to confirm if signatures in the recipient column are Manafort 's or not . The spokesman said the Anti - Corruption Bureau is conducting an analysis of the signatures .

What follows is her report . " We joke in Ukraine that it is a bad sign for Trump that he hired Manafort . Because his client Yanukovych was ousted personnel.endposition.na and fled to Russia , to the city of Rostov . So Trump could also end up in Rostov . It is almost like an anecdote . "

Bannon ’s hire highlights a troubling trend : the blurring of the lines between media as campaign observer and campaign operative . With Bannon leading Trump ’s presidential bid , the lines are now erased . And Bannon is n’t even the only media mogul helping : ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes is reportedly advising Trump in the run up to the first debate , despite allegations against him of sexual misconduct at Fox . All of this would be unthinkable in any other election year . But with Trump ’s unpredictable candidacy , anything goes .

President Rodrigo Duterte also wants to halt the 28 military exercises that are carried out with U.S. forces each year , Lorenzana said . Duterte has said he wants an ongoing U.S.-Philippine amphibious beach landing exercise to be the last in his six - year presidency as he backs away from what he views as too much dependence on the U.S. " This year would be the last , " Duterte said of military exercises involving the Americans in a speech Friday in southern Davao city where he lashed out at the U.S. anew and repeated his readiness to be ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff from office for his hard - line stance . " For as long as I am there , do not treat us like a doormat because you 'll be sorry for it , " Duterte said . " I will not speak with you .

... Nothing transpired and no business relationship was ever implemented . ” On the political front , Manafort was paid handsome sums for years to advise a pro - Putin Ukrainian political figure , Viktor Yanukovych , who fled to Russia in 2014 after he was ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff as president in a political revolution . U.S. officials say Yanukovych was deeply corrupt and did Putin ’s bidding in Ukraine . Manafort met regularly with the U.S.

The power of staying true to the precedent that had been set prevailed . ” Recent revelations about the finances of Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort are likely to increase pressure on Trump to release his tax returns . The New York Times reported on Sunday that a Ukrainian anti - corruption agency found Manafort ’s name on a secret ledger used by the ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff , pro - Russia government of ex - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych . The ledger showed payments totaling $ 12.7 million designated for Manafort from Yanukovych ’s political party . Manafort was a top political adviser to Yanukovych for several years , but it ’s not clear if he ever received the payments listed .

So Would Hillary Support a Coup to Oust a Sanders - like Presidency in Latin America ? While our thought experiment may at first appear ludicrous , the people of Honduras might not think it so . Under Hillary Clinton ’s leadership as Secretary of State , the U.S. gave support to the Honduras military which ousted personnel.endposition.na yet another democratically elected president . Here ’s Dana Frank ’s description in the New York Times on January 26 , 2012 . “ Ever since the June 28 , 2009 , coup that deposed Honduras ’s democratically elected president , José Manuel Zelaya , the country has been descending deeper into a human rights and security abyss .

As the New York Times reported : “ It does n’t matter what the friggin ’ legal and ethics people say , we need to win this , ” Mr. Foval said in one clip of the video that describes how to get Mr. Trump ’s supporters to start punching the people that they plant in line at his rallies . Although Democrats are complaining that the Project Veritas videos were edited ( as are virtually all TV videos ) , and therefore misleading , Creamer , as well as Foval , who admitted on tape to hiring “ mentally ill ” people to disrupt Trump events and foment violence , were ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff almost immediately , with Creamer stepping down and Foval being “ laid off . ” Creamer , as revealed by Stanley Kurtz , an expert on Vietnam - era radical movements , is a longtime disciple of notorious 1960s Marxist activist Saul Alinsky and a leader in Obama ’s old community organizing network and its training center , the Midwest Academy , which was founded by members of the radical Students for a Democratic Society , SDS . Stealing elections

There are two major reasons that so many questions remain about the nature of Manafort ’s work for Yanukovych and the Party of Regions . The first is simple : Manafort has refused to describe it . Much of what is known emerged only after Yanukovych fled Ukraine in 2014 , ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff by a popular revolution , and volunteer divers retrieved thousands of internal government documents that had been hastily thrown into a lake at his presidential retreat . Additional paperwork was found tossed inside a Ukrainian prosecutor ’s sauna . The documents were dried and assembled by local journalists ; some offer details on Manafort ’s role in Yanukovych ’s reign , helping to coordinate a U.S. law firm ’s favorable inquiry into Yanukovych ’s arrest of a political opposition leader .

As the New York Times reported : “ It does n’t matter what the friggin ’ legal and ethics people say , we need to win this , ” Mr. Foval said in one clip of the video that describes how to get Mr. Trump ’s supporters to start punching the people that they plant in line at his rallies . Although Democrats are complaining that the Project Veritas videos were edited ( as are virtually all TV videos ) , and therefore misleading , Creamer , as well as Foval , who admitted on tape to hiring “ mentally ill ” people to disrupt Trump events and foment violence , were ousted personnel.endposition.na almost immediately , with Creamer stepping down and Foval being “ laid off . ” Creamer , as revealed by Stanley Kurtz , an expert on Vietnam - era radical movements , is a longtime disciple of notorious 1960s Marxist activist Saul Alinsky and a leader in Obama ’s old community organizing network and its training center , the Midwest Academy , which was founded by members of the radical Students for a Democratic Society , SDS . Stealing elections

There were obvious signs that pressure was building on Kasyanov — beginning in January , when Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov posted video of Kasyanov inside a sniper 's crosshairs . A few weeks later , he was " pied " in the face at a restaurant , a favourite threatening tactic of provocateurs . Kasyanov is chairman of PARNAS , a liberal opposition party in Russia , and was prime minister before he fell out of favour and was ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff by Putin in 2004 . Pelevina is his political assistant and was a member of the party executive until she resigned this week . ( Corinne Seminoff / CBC )

Traditionally , Ukrainian - Americans have skewed toward the Republican Party which took a hard line toward the Soviet Union during the Cold War . Now , however , Ukrainian - Americans may abandon the GOP due to Trump 's apologetic stance toward Putin and Russia . Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort 's ties to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych , who in turn had sought to ally his country to Russia before he himself was ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff during the Maidan revolution , may also prompt Ukrainian - Americans to jettison the Republican Party . Currently , there are more than 20 million Ukrainians living abroad , of which one million reside in the U.S. In Ohio , Ukrainian - Americans are mostly congregated around Cleveland and some 45,000 people stateside trace their roots back to the Old Country .

The buyer was Russian fertiliser billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev , who was reported in the Panama Papers leaks to have used offshore law firms to hide more than $ 2bn - worth of art works , including pieces by Picasso , Van Gogh and Leonardo , from his wife in advance of their divorce . Yanukovych , Gazprom and more Facebook Twitter Pinterest Viktor Yanukovych used to employ Paul Manafort , Trump ’s campaign manager before being ousted personnel.endposition.firinglayoff as Ukrainian president in 2014 . He is now exiled in Russia . Photograph : Ivan Sekretarev / AP