Dem senator wants Manafort to testify before Intelligence Committee

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) wants former President Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee over reports that he helped advance Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interests a decade ago.

“I am calling for Paul Manafort to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee and give the American people the answers they deserve,” Heinrich, a member of the committee, said in a statement Wednesday. 

Manafort partnered with a Russian billionaire and crafted a political strategy for undermining anti-Russian sentiment across former Soviet republics, according to The Associated Press.

The AP reported that Manafort proposed the strategy as early as June 2005, ultimately signing a $10 million annual contract with Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska in 2006.

{mosads}Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, have called for Manafort to come before their respective committees.

Heinrich said he was “alarmed” by the AP’s report.

“The Trump Administration’s attempt to now distance itself from its former campaign chairman is indicative of how serious and disturbing these revelations are and raises serious questions about Russia’s relationship with the Trump campaign,” he said.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Manafort, a former chairman of the campaign, had a “limited role for a very limited amount of time.”

In a statement on Monday, Manafort denied any ties to or contact with the Russian government after the FBI confirmed it is investigating Trump allies’ alleged links to Moscow.