“The simplest answer is the truth: I am a campaign professional.”

American former lobbyist, political consultant, and attorney, born 1949

Paul Manafort is an American former lobbyist, political consultant, and attorney. Born in 1949, he spent decades in Republican politics and later became known for leading Donald Trump’s presidential campaign from June to August 2016. Manafort advised the presidential campaigns of Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bob Dole. He co-founded the Washington, D.C. lobbying firm Black, Manafort & Stone in 1980, and he often worked for foreign leaders, including Viktor Yanukovych, Ferdinand Marcos, Mobutu Sese Seko, and Jonas Savimbi. He later registered retroactively as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.