In a Tuesday afternoon statement through a spokesman, Manafort said:<\/p>\n
“This story is totally false and deliberately libelous. I have never met Julian Assange or anyone connected to him. I have never been contacted by anyone connected to Wikileaks, either directly or indirectly.\u00a0I have never reached out to Assange or Wikileaks on any matter. We are considering all legal options against the Guardian who proceeded with this story even after being notified by my representatives that it was false.”<\/p>\n
The Guardian<\/em>\u00a0reported on Tuesday – based on unnamed sources – that Manafort\u00a0held\u00a0secret talks with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London<\/strong>, right around the time he joined Trump’s campaign.<\/p>\n Sources have said\u00a0Manafort went to see Assange in 2013, 2015 and in spring 2016<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 during the period when he was made a key figure in Trump\u2019s push for the White House.<\/p>\n It is unclear why Manafort wanted to see Assange and what was discussed. But the last meeting is likely to come under scrutiny and could interest\u00a0Robert Mueller<\/a>, the special prosecutor who is investigating alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.<\/p>\n A well-placed source has told the Guardian that Manafort went to see Assange around March 2016. Months later\u00a0WikiLeaks<\/a>\u00a0released a stash of Democratic emails stolen by Russian intelligence officers. –The Guardian<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Guardian,\u00a0<\/em>meanwhile,\u00a0altered the story after publication<\/strong>\u00a0with a massive hedge:<\/p>\n And as Glenn Greenwald of\u00a0The Intercept<\/em><\/a>\u00a0points out, if the story is true –\u00a0there would be ample video evidence of Manafort’s visits.<\/strong><\/p>\n This leads to one indisputable fact: if Paul Manafort (or, for that matter, Roger Stone<\/a>), visited Assange at the Embassy, there would be ample amounts of video and other photographic proof demonstrating that this happened. The Guardian provides\u00a0none of that.<\/em><\/p>\n So why would any minimally rational, reasonable person possibly assume these anonymous claims are true rather than waiting to form a judgment once the relevant evidence is available? As President Obama\u2019s former national security aide and current podcast host Tommy Vietor\u00a0put it<\/a>: \u201cIf these meetings happened, British intelligence would almost certainly have video of him entering and exiting,\u201d adding: \u201cseems dubious.\u201d –The Intercept<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Guardian<\/em>\u00a0also ignores the fact that every guest visiting Assange “is logged in through a very intricate security system,” notes Greenwald.<\/p>\n While admitting that Manafort was\u00a0never<\/em>\u00a0logged in to the embassy, the Guardian waves this glaring hole away with barely any discussion or attempt to explain it: \u201cVisitors normally register with embassy security guards and show their passports. Sources in\u00a0Ecuador, however, say Manafort was not logged.\u201d –The Intercept<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Why, as Greenwald asks, would Manafort visit three times but never be logged in? Why would leftist Rafael Correa allow Manafort – a life-long GOP operative, to enter the embassy undocumented?<\/p>\n Greenwald further points out that\u00a0The Guardian<\/em>‘s omission is “especially inexcusable” since\u00a0The Guardian\u00a0<\/em>itself\u00a0“obtained the Embassy’s visitors logs in May,<\/b>” and made\u00a0no mention of Manafort’s visits<\/strong>\u00a0at the time – which would have been bombshell news.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/manafort-responmds.png\")
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