Top Donald Trump aide lobbied for ISI frontal outfit in US: Report

The Trump Campaign did not respond to questions sent on the allegations against Paul Manafort, who was recently hired as the convention manager

Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Press Trust of India Washington
Last Updated : Apr 19 2016 | 10:23 AM IST
US Republican front-runner Donald Trump's new top campaign aide Paul Manafort lobbied for a Washington-based group that has been charged for operating as a front for Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), a media report said on Monday.

The company of Paul Manafort, who was recently hired by Trump campaign as its convention manager, allegedly received $700,000 from the Kashmiri American Council (KAC) between 1990 and 1995, the Yahoo News reported.

The money was received by Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly, which was Manafort's lobbying firm.

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Ghulam Nabi Fai, the head of KAC, was sentenced by a US court for two years of imprisonment on charges of receiving money from ISI and working on its behalf.

The $700,000 amount was part of the $4 million given by ISI to KAC, as alleged by federal prosecutors during court proceeding.

The ISI has denied the allegations. The US Government never charged Manafort, who was registered as a lobbyist.

During a trip to Islamabad in 1994, Manafort presented plans to influence members of Congress to back Pakistan's case for a plebiscite for Kashmir, the report said.

The report quotes an unnamed former Pakistani official, who was part of that meeting.

Internal budget documents obtained by the FBI show plans by the KAC to spend $80,000 to $100,000 a year on campaign contributions to members of Congress, it said.

"There is no way Manafort didn't know that Pakistan was involved with the KAC," the former official said was quoted as saying by the report.

The Trump Campaign did not respond to questions sent on the allegations against Manafort.
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First Published: Apr 19 2016 | 12:32 AM IST

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