Posted for makonero
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This is an excellent look into who Manafort is as a person and the kind of person Trump trusted with his campaign. Hope they nail him to the wall.
Early in my career, I worked for Paul Manafort. He was strategic, canny, demanding and, it will surprise no one to learn after his 12-count indictment this week, played by his own rules, in an industry where you usually got away with it. I was young, wanted to do right by the world, and my boss lacked a moral compass. Working for him nearly broke my spirit.
A few years out of college, in 1987, I landed a job as an international field operative for BMS&K — Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly, the capital's very first bipartisan lobbying firm. Manafort himself hired me after I promised that "there is no place in the world I will not go." And I got what I signed up for: In more than a decade working for him, there was no place that Manafort would not send me.
I went to the National Electoral Commission downtown to urge that UNITA's concerns be taken seriously so that calm could be kept while the final vote count continued. After a pointless two-hour visit, I emerged from the smoke-filled office, famished, and looking for my vehicle. As I approached the street, a firefight broke out — rapid, staccato automatic gunshots. Everyone scattered. I dove under a white Jeep with U.N. emblazoned on its side, and waited, and waited. I felt extremely alone. Why had Manafort sent me here by myself?
After the shots had subsided, I climbed out of my sheltering place, shaking uncontrollably. It took me a while to reset myself, remember where I was, and what I was doing. After the incident, the U.S. mission urged me to leave the country. Officials there were unsure whether I was a target. Two weeks later, the country was at war with itself. The election process was never completed. Thousands of UNITA sympathizers were killed, along with many friends, including some who had escorted me onto my flight out.
I was traumatized, depressed, almost in mourning. Worse, I felt responsible. Our efforts might have contributed to the misery inflicted on the Angolan people. As for Manafort — well, there was no self-reflection. It was simple: We lost a client. He saw no reason to dwell on it. I shouldn't take it personally, he told me.
Read the rest here
This is an excellent look into who Manafort is as a person and the kind of person Trump trusted with his campaign. Hope they nail him to the wall.
