Paul Manafort Is Back

Casey Michel: “There was a time, not long ago, when the fat cats running America’s shady foreign lobbying industry appeared on the defensive. Few encapsulated this trend better than Paul Manafort, the erstwhile campaign manager for Donald Trump and the architect of much of the modern foreign lobbying industry. After years of ushering warlords and right-wing autocrats into the halls of power in Washington, Manafort was sentenced in 2019 to a yearslong imprisonment, primarily for violating America’s existing foreign lobbying laws (among a range of other crimes). It was, for those in far-flung locales such as Ukraine and Nigeria and the Philippines—places decimated by Manafort’s pro-dictatorial work—a moment of celebration. Finally, there was proof that America could hold these kinds of corrupt consiglieres to account.”

“Alas, times change. In hindsight, that sentencing can be viewed as something of a high-water mark in the fight to corral these foreign lobbying networks. Not only did Trump pardon Manafort shortly after his conviction, driving a stake through the heart of America’s anti–foreign lobbying efforts, but just this week, The New York Times reported that Manafort is back and once again up to his old habits. Years have passed, and nothing, it appears, has changed.”