Thread by @tburages

@mikercarpenter My theory: Kilimnik and Manafort were doing a twofer.

1. They were working on Trump's campaign.
2. They were advising a Ukraine politician. /1

@mikercarpenter The polling data was meant for BOTH. Specifically it was FOR a Ukrainian "peace plan."

In Manafort's pre-sentencing doc, Weissmann says: "We had not discussed with Mr. Manafort the evidence regarding the 2018 work that he did with respect to polling in Ukraine." /2

@mikercarpenter How the polling data pertained to both, I'm not sure, but my guess is there were questions on that poll about how Americans would feel about the type of peace plan they were devising. /3

@mikercarpenter The peace plan would have removed U.S. Russian sanctions. Look closely at the redacted Manafort pre-sentencing memo. They are talking about a Ukrainian peace plan and removing Russian sanctions. /4

@mikercarpenter They were working the Ukrainian side of this throughout 2017 and part of 2018. Specifically they were working with a Ukrainian politician. /5

@mikercarpenter "And this issue about Kilimnik and Ukrainian politics also involves Manafort's own work in 2017, as a consultant for a potential candidate in the Ukraine. And in particular, polls he arranged for there related to what the Ukrainians thought about the [peace plan]."

@mikercarpenter So who was the Ukrainian politician?

I think it was Zelensky (bear with me here). The character count matches the character account in the hearing transcript. And the guy's a TV star (he played the president!) with Russian business ties.

reuters.com/article/us-ukr…