Kyiv: Information on Manafort was disclosed at media’s request
The National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said that it reported the existence of the name Paul Manafort in the Party of Regions’ “black ledger” in response to the media’s inquiries.
“The NABU and SAP have repeatedly stated that no investigation has been carried out with respect to Paul Manafort. We stress that he is not a person being investigated by us. All comments regarding the presence of the name Paul Manafort in the lists of the so-called ‘black ledger’ of the Party of Regions were exclusively in response to the media’s inquiries and the goal to prevent manipulation,” the NABU press service announced on Wednesday, as reported by Interfax Ukraine.
On August 16, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine (GPU) clarified that it is investigating the disclosure of information from a pretrial investigation by the NABU, not interference in US elections.
On August 15, the online news outlet Obozrevatel, citing a document in the editorial staff’s possession, published news with the title “GPU opens case on NABU interference in US presidential elections: the document”. According to the news outlet, criminal case No. 42017000000002470 was opened according to Sec. 2 Art. 387 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (disclosure of pretrial investigation information or knowledge) “concerning interference by individual officials from the NABU in the US presidential elections in 2016”.
The disclosed photocopy of part of the document gives the story of the case opened on August 2: “According to the appeal of Ukrainian MP Derkach A.L. [unaffiliated MP Andrei Derkach] Ukrainian law enforcement officials disclosed pretrial investigation information by revealing to the media fragments of records made on lists in the Party of Regions’ ‘black ledger’ on the name of Donald Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort. The Ukrainian information discredits the person, degrades his honor and dignity by creating a public impression of illegal interference in the US presidential elections”.
In May 2016, former first deputy SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) head Viktor Trepak gave the NBU documents relating to the Party of Regions’ “black ledger”. According to him, these documents are evidence of the Party of Regions’ illegal cash payments to Ukrainian officials and politicians, as well as to Manafort, who later became the head of Trump’s electoral campaign.
The New York Times subsequently released an article on Manafort’s work in Ukraine, after which he resigned from his position as Trump’s campaign manager.
At the end of July 2017, the NABU said that it and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office are not authorized to investigate Manafort’s activity as a political consultant of the Party of Regions.
On July 25, Trump demanded on Twitter for Ukraine’s interference in his presidential campaign to be investigated.