Spicer dismisses efforts to tie Manafort actions to Trump

White House press secretary Sean Spicer Wednesday sought to diminish criticism of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, saying a $10 million contract he is accused of accepting from a Russian oligarch with strong ties to Vladimir Putin was offered a decade ago.

Manafort was hired by the Trump campaign last March to help wrangle delegates ahead of the GOP convention and was later promoted to chairman of the operation. He quit in mid-August after multiple allegations surfaced regarding his ties to Russia. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Manafort pitched a plan to Putin ally Oleg Deripaska in 2005 that detailed how he could benefit the Russian president using politics and media coverage inside the United States.