. The U.S. government dismissed the claims as absurd at the time . But people who have studied Putin closely suggest that the episode further cemented the Russian leader 's conspiratorial mindset and a worldview framed by his experience as a KGB officer when the Soviet Union crumbled .
But those jobs would pale — both in terms of financial reward and degree of difficulty — to the gig to which Akhmetov referred Manafort and his team : returning Yanukovych to power . A former trucking official who had been convicted and incarcerated as a teenager for serious crimes , Yanukovych had become a popular symbol of the corruption that plagues Ukraine after his team tried to rig the 2004 presidential election . A series of protestsconflict.demonstrate.na, which became known as the Orange Revolution , forced a re - vote , which Yanukovych lost . While Manafort initially protested that Yanukovych was too deeply flawed to revive , Akhmetov eventually prevailed upon his American consultant to help Yanukovych and his political party , the Party of Regions , try to make a comeback in the 2006 parliamentary elections . Manafort and his team , including Kilimnik , set about to recast Yanukovych as an inspiring leader who could work with the West .
He anticipates opening the community gymnasium for people without beds come winter , and a growing pile of sleeping bags and blankets sits in his office . Those protesters from Arizona , Georgia and California wo n't know what hit them when the cold rushes in , he says . Photos : North Dakota pipeline protestsconflict.demonstrate.naFireworks lit the sky at the Oceti Sakowin Camp near Cannon Ball , North Dakota on December 4 , 2016 , after the Army Corps of Engineers halted the Dakota Access Pipeline route . An executive order by President Donald Trump in January allowed work to resume . Hide Caption 1 of 32 Photos : North Dakota pipeline protests Activists embrace after the December halt of the Dakota Access Pipeline route .
And he turned and went out the door . Hillary Clinton 's campaign chairman John Podesta said following the Trump press conference : ' Trump is desperate he ’s trying to take this race to a place in the gutter and we ’re not going there . ' Bill 's spokesman , Angel Urena , declined to comment Thursday on the ongoing protestsconflict.demonstrate.na. He tweeted out a Bloomberg article earlier in the day though that said , ' Whether acting as a pawn for the Russians or for his campaign henchmen who 've made a career going after @billclinton , one thing is clear : " Donald Trump is doubling down on his strategy of focusing on Bill Clinton 's accusers . " '
Which brings us to Trump and his reintroduction of a baleful phenomenon long absent in American politics : violence . The United States has hardly been immune to the ravages of men who prefer to settle disputes not in representative chambers but by brawling in the streets . From the Founding Fathers ( who fought a war against the world ’s mightiest empire ) through the era of political dueling to the anti – Vietnam War protestsconflict.demonstrate.naat the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago , violence has been a recurring feature of American political life . But for the better part of the past half century , we have thankfully been spared its depredations . Like our basic notions of decorum , civility , common sense , and much else that makes America great , the laudable facility for restraining one ’s pugnacious impulses in the clash of political differences has been thrown out the window in this campaign season by the utterly debased personage of Trump .
“ In most , perhaps all , other countries of the world , the underground resources belong to the crown or the government , ” she explains . The fact that property owners did n’t stand to profit from drilling on their land ignited public outrage in some parts of the world , especially Eastern Europe . U.S. officials speculate that Russia also had a hand in fomenting protestsconflict.demonstrate.nathere . “ The perception among diplomats in the region was that Russia was protecting its interests , ” says Mark Gitenstein , the former U.S. ambassador to Romania . “ It did n’t want shale gas for obvious reasons . ”
But anti - Americanism has surged in Turkey , where Vice President Joe Biden arrives on Aug. 24 to reassure the NATO ally that the US and Turkey still stand together against terrorism . He ’ll try to assure the country also that the US stands with President Erdoğan against the coup attempt , which has prompted a host of fresh conspiracy theories and new enemies in the popular imagination , from the island foreign policy conference to the White House . Such rhetoric is not new : It has grown since 2013 , prompted by Washington ’s criticism of Erdoğan ’s heavy - handed crackdown on Gezi Park protestsconflict.demonstrate.nathat year . Later came disputes over the Syrian war , with the US critical of what it saw as Turkish encouragement of Islamic jihadist fighters . More recently , US military support to Syrian Kurds , whom Turkey considers terrorists , attracted Turkey ’s ire in the fight against the self - declared Islamic State .