Hold Up! Trump's Former Campaign Manager Reportedly Paid MILLIONS To Aid Putin And Russia

Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, once secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to promote the interests of President Vladimir Putin's government.

Manafort had proposed a confidential strategy plan to the mogul as early as June 2005, with the goal of influencing politics, business negotiations, and media in the U.S., Europe, and former Soviet republics to "greatly benefit the Putin Government," the Associated Press found.

Oleg Deripaska, a Russian aluminum tycoon, is a close Putin ally who eventually signed a $10 million annual contract with Manafort beginning in 2006, according to the AP.

"We are now of the belief that this model can greatly benefit the Putin Government if employed at the correct levels with the appropriate commitment to success," Manafort wrote about his plan in a 2005 memo to Deripaska. 

In his note, Manafort said his proposal "will be offering a great service that can re-focus, both internally and externally, the policies of the Putin government."

The amount of work that Manafort completed under the arrangement is unclear, the AP noted.

The Trump administration sought to distance itself from Manafort Wednesday, with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer telling reporters that Trump hadn't known about Manafort's ties to Russia prior to the AP's report.

"To suggest that the President knew who his clients were from 10 years ago is a bit insane," Spicer said, pointing out that Manafort's work for Deripaska happened before he became Trump's campaign manager.

"I don't know what (Manafort) got paid to do," Spicer said, later adding, "There's no suggestion he did anything improper."

Manafort, who left Trump's campaign last August, confirmed that he had been employed by Deripaska but denied working in order to aid Russia.

"I look forward to meeting with those conducting serious investigations of these issues," he added.

The report on Manafort's dealings with Deripaska come as investigators review whether members of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign worked with Russia to influence the election, as the AP noted.

You can read the AP's complete report here.