Paul Manafort (left) and President Donald Trump (right). Photos / AP
Paul Manafort (left) and President Donald Trump (right). Photos / AP
Text messages hacked from the phone of Paul Manafort's daughter reveal on Tuesday the extent of the close working relationship between President Donald Trump and the man who was his campaign manager for six months last year.
Manafort was indicted on Monday for a litany of alleged financial crimes, including fraud and money laundering, by the special counsel who is investigating possible collusion between the Russian government and the Trump campaign.
He pleaded not guilty and is under house arrest in Virginia. He faces a maximum sentence of 80 years in prison if convicted, according to Daily Mail.
But a number of remarkably candid text messages sent and received by Andrea Manafort Shand show that despite efforts by Trump and White House officials to distance themselves from her father, he still wielded significant influence over the campaign.
The text messages between Andrea Manafort Shand, her sister, Jessica Manafort, and a friend were hacked earlier this year by a dark web site known as Krypt3ia.
Their contents were reported on Tuesday by Huffington Post.
According to text messages exchanged on March 17, 2016, the Manafort sisters said that Trump turned to their father and asked him to take over the campaign as it headed toward the Republican convention.
"Guess who called Dad last night and asked him to run his convention," Jessica Manafort texted to her sister.
"Mom told me he was going to call dad," Andrea Manafort Shand replied.
"She told me to get ready for Trump to be president and pick the position in the White House I want."
"Dad gave him his list of requirements and so long as he can fulfill the list, Dad accepted," Jessica Manafort replied.
Later that month, text messages suggest that Manafort was winning his power struggle over the man he would eventually replace as the head of the Trump campaign, Corey Lewandowski.
"Dude he is second in command," Andrea Manafort Shand texted to her friend.
"Perhaps arguably running it. The campaign manager is all for show. [Corey Lewandowski] doesn't do s***. Trump has been managing his own campaign."
When it became apparent in early April 2016 that Paul Manafort's influence within the campaign was growing, Andrea Manafort Shand texted: "He likes the challenge. That's why he's doing this. It's a game for him. He isn't being paid."
Donald Trump (left), then-campaign manager Paul Manafort (center) and Ivanka Trump (right) at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July last year. Photo / AP
She said that Trump and her father shared many similarities.
"This is pure sport. He is a power hungry egomaniac. Yes. He is loving it," Andrea Manafort Shand writes of her father.
"Conclusively. Him and Trump are perfect allies for this agenda. It's so weird he is my dad."
Andrea Manafort Shand continued: "It's just weird. Like [my dad] doesn't seem that smart. Like he is smart. But I know I'm smarter than him."
She offers astonishingly blunt - and often times negative - opinions about her father and his relationship with the truth.
"He is very manipulative," Andrea Manafort Shand texts to her friend.
"I did inherit that ability. But I don't exploit it like he does. I know all his tactics. They aren't that brilliant but they do work."
When her friend texts her that she is different from her father because she has a "moral conscience," Andrea Manafort Shand replies: "Like he just tells you the sky is green over and over. And eventually you are like is it? I don't possess the ability to just lie like he does."
"It's confidence. When you say something unwaveringly, people start to believe it."
She writes that Trump has "more morals" than her father and that the two were "perfect allies."
"My dad is a psycho!!! At least Trump let his wives leave him," Andrea Manafort Shand texted.
"Plus, Trump has been a good father."
"Trump waited a little too long in my opinion, but I can attest to the fact that he has now hired one of the world's greatest manipulators," Andrea Manafort Shand texted.
"I hope my dad pulls it off. Then I can sell my memoir with all his dirty secrets for a pretty penny."
Jessica Manafort also texted her sister, saying: "Dad and Trump are literally living in the same building and mom says they go up and down all day long hanging and plotting together."
The next day, April 13, Andrea Manafort Shand texts that her father refused to accept a salary from Trump purely out of ego and because he "gets off on power".
"Yup. That's a match made in heaven," she says of Trump and her father. "Egomaniacs galore."
"My dad wants Trump to listen to him and respect him," Andrea Manafort Shand texts to her friend.
"[Manafort wants Trump to] view him as an equal, not as staff. So refusing payment makes it so. And makes it clear to Trump why my dad is doing it - because he wants to.
"And my dad won't take an appointment either. Trump knows that, too.
"So this isn't for personal gain for my dad, and that's true - not a game. So why is my dad doing it? Sport.
"This is his wheelhouse," Andrea Manafort Shand writes.
"And he gets off on power too. My dad loves challenges and this is like a chess game.
"He got a mistress because he was bored. Trump is his new mistress."
In her text messages, Andrea Manafort Shand claims that when the Trump campaign planned to officially name Paul Manafort as co-manager alongside Lewandowski, the latter "went to Trump's son-in-law, Ivanka's husband [Jared Kushner], and burst into tears about how that would ruin him."
Andrea Manafort Shand claims that her father decided to give up the title of "co-manager" because "he doesn't care about titles" even though he was effectively a co-manager.
On May 26, Andrea Manafort Shand offered a friend to once again use her father to gain favors for defense contractor Lockheed Martin.
"My dad works for Lockheed Martin, and they want to essentially let Trump's transition team know that they're ready, available, and happy to provide info about defense acquisition and sustainment," the friend texts Manafort Shand.
Manafort Shand: "You're not the first. It's no bother. I am happy to be a conduit. I just can't promise anything other than initial access."
"Just being a conduit is amazing!" the friend replies.
"Zero expectations, just doing what I can for my dad so anything at all is f***ing great."
"Totally get it," Andrea Manafort Shand replies.
"Not every day you know the man behind the man. Gotta exploit it.
"Which is why I am happy to help. Cuz f*** it, hopefully someone can benefit by my relation to the count of Monte Cristo."
The White House has tried to distance themselves from Manafort. Photo / AP
Andrea Manafort Shand also claims that it was her father who picked Mike Pence to be Trump's running mate.
In August, when it appeared that Paul Manafort was being demoted in favor of Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway, Andrea Manafort Shand said all the talk was "bulls***."
"No surprise that the media is wrong," she texted.
"Again. My dad hired those two people. Interviewed them in Trump Towers."
When Paul Manafort officially stepped down as campaign chairman, it was all for show, according to his daughter.
"As I suspected, my dad resigned from being the public face of the campaign but is still very much involved behind the scenes," Andrea Manafort Shand texted on August 19.
This was when news stories were emerging about Paul Manafort's financial ties to the former pro-Putin Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovich.
"He felt he was becoming a distraction and that would ultimately take a toll on the campaign," Andrea Manafort Shand said of her father's decision to step down.
She also revealed that her father was trying to make Trump a more disciplined candidate.
On August 18, 2016, Trump delivered a conciliatory speech in Charlotte in which he expressed regret for statements that "caused personal pain," according to The New York Times.
Andrea Manafort Shand said that the speech was the result of her father's influence.
"Last night's speech was a speech my dad had been pushing him to make for several weeks, and since it was so well-received, he thinks Trump will be more responsive to doing things a bit differently," she texted.
After Manafort resigned on August 19, 2016 as campaign chairman, a friend texted to his daughter: "Thoughts go out to your pops - I can only imagine that he's relieved, angry, hurting, a combination of a lot of emotions. Wishing you and your fam the best."
Andrea Manafort Shand replied: "Hahaha, you're so silly. It's all just PR."
The White House, Paul Manafort, and Andrea Manafort Shand declined comment.
