Sen. Ben Cardin (Md.), the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, is pressing the State Department for details on Paul Manafort’s possession of multiple passports, revealed in indictments released earlier this week.
Cardin sent a letter on Friday to John Sullivan, deputy secretary of State, requesting information on President Trump’s former campaign chairman and the department’s process for using multiple passports.
“I write seeking additional details surrounding the State Department’s issuance of multiple passports for Paul Manafort, Jr. … While there are legitimate reasons for an individual to hold more than one U.S. passport, the circumstances under which an individual would simultaneously hold multiple passports are generally very limited,” Cardin wrote.
{mosads}The letter comes as Manafort is facing charges as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s election meddling and potential ties between Moscow and the Trump campaign.
A footnote in the indictment paperwork notes that “in a little more than the last ten years, Manafort has submitted ten United States Passport applications on ten different occasions, indicative of his travel schedule. He currently has three United States passports, with different numbers.”
Cardin wants to know what the State Department’s guidance is on the additional passports and if it has reviewed the decision to grant extra passports to make sure they complied with the guidelines.
The Democratic senator is trying to “assess whether these passports were properly issued and align with existing State Department policies,” Cardin notes in his letter.
He also wants to know if the department has reviewed if Manafort submitted false information to get either of the additional passports.
Cardin also wants to know if there is a limit on how many passports one person can have and if the department gives extra scrutiny when an individual applies for more than one additional passport.