At least 50 people were killed in a southeastern Turkish city close to Syria when a suspected suicide bomber linked to Islamic State jihadists attacked a wedding thronged with guests, officials said Sunday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the IS extremist group was the “likely perpetrator” of the bomb attack in Gaziantep late Saturday that targeted a celebration attended by many Kurds.
The explosion was the latest attack to rock the key NATO member in a horrific year that has seen strikes blamed on Kurdish and Islamist militants as well as a bloody July 15 botched coup.
Gaziantep governor Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement that 50 people had been killed, raising a previous toll of 30. He had previously said 94 were woungAIded in “the abhorrent terror bomb attack on a wedding”.
Erdogan said in a statement there was “no difference” between the group of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen whom he blames for the failed coup bid, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) “and Daesh (IS), the likely perpetrator of the attack in Gaziantep”.
“Our country and our nation have again only one message to those who attack us — you will not succeed!” he said.
Reports said the wedding had a strong Kurdish presence. The Dogan news agency said the bride and groom were from the mainly Kurdish region of Siirt further to the east and had themselves been uprooted due to the flare-up in violence with Kurdish militants.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said its members had been present at the wedding which was also attended by many women and children.
The Hurriyet daily said the bride and groom — Besna and Nurettin Akdogan — were in hospital but their lives were not in danger.
Erdogan said the aim of such attacks was to sow division between different groups in Turkey such as Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen and to “spread incitement along ethnic and religious lines”.
Many jihadists see Kurds as one of their main enemies, with Kurdish militias playing a significant role in the fight against IS on the ground in Syria.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Gaziantep would show the same spirit it had shown in 1921 when it defeated French forces in Turkey’s Independence War which led to the word Gazi (war hero) being added to its original name of Antep.
“Our grief is great but be sure our unity and togetherness will defeat all these diabolic attacks,” he said.
AFP
Showing posts with label INTERNATIONAL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label INTERNATIONAL. Show all posts
Police killings of favela residents continue as Games go on in Rio
While much of the world’s media has focused on US swimmer Ryan Lochte’s fabricated account of an armed robbery, the real victims of Olympic crime in Rio de Janeiro are the city’s poorest residents, caught on the frontline of conflict between the authorities and drug traffickers.
Since the start of the Olympics, local media have reported at least 14 deaths in shootouts between gang members and police or soldiers from the 85,000-member security force deployed for the Games.
While such high levels of violence have long been a fact of life in favela communities, many residents feel the situation has been made worse by the high-profile mega-event that has focused police on protecting rich foreign visitors and targeting poor local residents.
Certainly, the heightened tension of the Games has led to at least one fatal mistake with devastating repercussions.
Helio Andrade, a state trooper from the distant state of Roraima, was shot dead on 12 August after he mistakenly drove into Vila de João, a gang-controlled neighbourhood in the Complexo do Maré favela. As a soldier on Olympic duty, his death was cause for interim president Michel Temer to declare national mourning and for flags outside the Games venues to fly at half-mast.
As is often the case in Rio, it also prompted the police to launch an extensive and punitive hunt for the killers. At least five residents of Maré were killed in the operations, though the suspects have yet to be apprehended. Images of the area in the local media show that it came under a state of semi-siege, with police helicopters flying overhead and homes raided by heavily armed military police.
The day before the Guardian visited the community, two people had been shot in the latest police action, according to local residents, who said they were woken up on many days by the sound of helicopters buzzing close overhead. “It’s horribly loud,” said Bruno Rodrigues, who, like many local people, asked to be identified with a pseudonym for fear of repercussions. “Everyone in the community is afraid when they hear that as it means an operation is about to start.”
Unlike many other favelas in Rio, Vila de João has never been “pacified” by police. On one street stands a gangster from the Terceiro Comando Puro, or Pure Third Command faction, one of Maré’s biggest drug trafficking gangs, with a semiautomatic rifle slung around his neck and a handgun jammed into the top of his trousers. Further along, there are lookouts carrying walkie talkies.
At the site of Andrade’s shooting near the junction of the airport motorway, the walls on one side of the street are marked with words “Paz” (peace) and “Seja bem vindo para Vila da João” (Welcome to Vila da João). On the other is a small pitch where a group of youths are playing volleyball. It looks tranquil, but Rodrigues warns me we are being watched. “Don’t take pictures. Don’t point,” he advises me.
The initials “TCP” sprayed on the walls are the only visible sign that this is gang-controlled territory. Most taxi drivers avoid the area; those who must come here do so with their car windows wound down and their hands visible so they can show they are not a threat.
But it is all too easy for strangers like Andrade to wander in accidentally; the state trooper was far from the first to be killed by a wrong turn.
In 2013, engineer Gil Barbosa, 53, was shot dead by gang members when he tried to use the junction to return home. Occasional shootouts across the motorwayhave left the walls on the roadside pitted with bullet holes. Traffic jams are sometimes targeted by armed robbers who work their way methodically along the line of immobilized vehicles.
During the Olympics, with athletes, officials and visiting dignitaries travelling back and forth between the airport and the city centre, the authorities have flooded the route with troops. Every 15 minutes or so, military patrols drive past with trucks carrying soldiers in full battle gear and brandishing rifles
“The security is to protect them from us,” says Rodrigues. “The Olympics is for those on the outside. Those who have money.”
His views appear to be widely shared in Maré. “The police don’t come here to protect us, but to segregate us,” says Jeferson Luciano, a participant in a community theatre group, called Teatro do Oprimado na Maré – the theatre of the oppressed in Maré.
On social networks, community activists expressed condolences for Andrade’s death, but said the violent police action that followed was disproportionate, disruptive and failed to discriminate between criminals and innocent residents.
“Until now, the balance is five people dead, several injured and thousands of people prevented from working, studying, because they are scared, terrified and their homes are being invaded ... The name of this is genocide, extermination, slaughter. And nobody says anything,” read one post on the Maré Vive Facebook page, which informs residents about shootouts and other issues.
Another Maré resident, who preferred to remain unnamed, said there were similar problems in other favelas, even those that were supposed to have been “pacified” by police units. For her, it is simply about control.
“The legacy we have of mega-events in Maré is blood on the floor,” she said. “These Games do not include favelas, peripheral communities and the poor. We are only supposed to work, to serve, not to have fun.”
Well before the Games began, human rights organisations warned of the potential dangers. Amnesty said Rio’s police had killed over 2,500 people since the Games were awarded in 2009, including more than 100 this year, most of whom were young black men. It said crackdowns tended to increase during mega-events.
The Olympics has not been all bad for communities like Maré. In contrast to the stigma they usually incur, the opening ceremony included a positive favela-themed section.
Brazil’s first gold medal – won by a black female judoka and former resident of the City of God favela – also helped to challenge old stereotypes. But hopes that the Games might help to pacify the communities are far from being realised. Official statistics suggest crime in Rio has fallen over the past decade, but it has started to rise again in the past two years as a result of a worsening economy and – some locals claim – the extra pressure of the Olympics.
“As in ancient Greece, I thought the Games were supposed to bring peace, but that didn’t work here,” wrote Maré resident Bira Carvalho. “Unlike the Olympic shooting competition, the targets here are black people who are scared to death.” Thanks for reading
Judge orders Clinton to answer email server questions from Judicial Watch
A federal judge has ordered Hillary Clinton to answer written questions about her use of a private email server while at the state department in response to a lawsuit by a conservative watchdog group, though he declined to make her submit to a sworn deposition.
District court judge Emmet Sullivan said Clinton must reply in writing to questions posed by the group, Judicial Watch, about why she set up a system to conduct state department business, a decision that led to an FBI investigation and has haunted the Democratic nominee’s campaign for over a year.
The judge said the group failed to demonstrate that an hours-long deposition was necessary to clarify why Clinton set up the private server, as opposed to seeking the information “through other, less burdensome or intrusive means such as interrogatories”.
“Judicial Watch’s argument that a deposition is preferable in this case because of the ability to ask follow-up questions is not persuasive,” Sullivan wrote. “Given the extensive public record related to the clintonemail.com system, a record which Judicial Watch has acknowledged, Judicial Watch will be able to anticipate many follow-up questions.”
Judicial Watch made a name for itself by dogging former president Bill Clinton, and has now filed a number of lawsuits under the Freedom of Information Act (Foia) seeking records from the state department about Hillary Clinton’s time spent as the nation’s top diplomat.
Judicial Watch’s president, Tom Fitton, praised the judge’s decision in a statement. “We are pleased that this federal court ordered Hillary Clinton to provide written answers under oath to some key questions about her email scandal,” he said. “We will move quickly to get these answers. The decision is a reminder that Hillary Clinton is not above the law.”
The decision means Clinton will probably not have to step away from the campaign trail to sit for an interview with some of her fiercest critics, but ensures that the controversy will continue to follower her throughout the final weeks of the presidential campaign.
Judicial Watch has until 14 October to submit questions to Clinton, who must respond within 30 days, according to the decision.
Separately, Sullivan approved Judicial Watch’s request to depose John Bentel, a senior state department aide who has since retired, due to “contradictory evidence” about the extent of his knowledge of Clinton’s server and email practices. However, he declined the group’s request to depose Clarence Finney, a state department official handling Foia requests.
In July, the FBI closed its investigation into Clinton’s email server after she sat for a three-hour interview. Director James Comey said that while she and her staff had been “extremely careless” in their handling of emails, a handful of which contained classified information at the time, the FBI would not recommend prosecutors seek charges in the case.
The judge also ordered the federal government to begin releasing the “thousands of work-related emails” that the FBI said it had recovered in its investigation.
Clinton has apologized for setting up the server, maintaining that the decision was a “mistake” and not an attempt to obfuscate her actions or skirt reporting laws. She also noted that this was the practice of her predecessors, though the law was tightened by the Obama administration.
Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that former secretary of state Colin Powell was said to have advised Clinton to use a personal email account. The report was based on notes from the FBI handed over to Congress.
In a statement, Powell’s office said he wrote Clinton an “email memo describing his use of his personal AOL email account for unclassified messages and how it vastly improved communications within the State Department” while also noting that “at the time there was no equivalent system with the department”. Thanks for reading.
Marriage equality plebiscite to be held in Australia in 2017 – reports
The plebiscite to decide whether marriage equality should be legalised in Australia will be held in February 2017.
The Daily Telegraph reported late on Saturday that the issue would not be put to the Australian public until early next year.
Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister, had pledged before the July election to hold the plebiscite before the end of the year.
The plebiscite will reportedly ask: “Do you approve of a law to permit people of the same sex to marry?”
Turnbull suggests marriage equality plebiscite may be delayed until 2017
The government had considered other options for the question, but those would be abandoned after testing poorly in focus groups funded by activists.
Voting would be compulsory with fines imposed for those who failed to do so.
The Daily Telegraph reported that the prime minister would announce the new timeline at a Coalition party room meeting on 13 September, during the second week of parliamentary sittings.
It also reported that Bill Shorten, the Labor leader, would launch a last-minute bid to overthrow the plebiscite in the coming weeks, introducing a private member’s bill to legalise marriage equality with a free vote of Parliament.
Turnbull had been unequivocal about his desire to hold the plebiscite as soon as possible – ideally before the year was out – in the lead-up to the 2 July election.
But after he was elected as prime minister he appeared to shy from the commitment, indicating on 18 July that it may be delayed until 2017.
A spokesman for Turnbull could not be reached for immediate comment by Guardian Australia.
A plebiscite is a direct vote of all the members of the country on an important public policy issue, but is distinct from a referendum because the constitution does not need to be changed.
The plebiscite would be followed by a vote in parliament, and various government members have signalled that they would not be led by its result.
Some, including senators Eric Abetz and Cory Bernardi, have said they would abstain or vote against the legislation that woudl come before the parliament if the plebiscite was passed.
In July a poll found that only 48% of Australians backed a marriage equality plebiscite, casting doubt over the government’s claim the “overwhelming majority” of Australians were in favour of the idea.
The issue had caused rifts among marriage equality advocates, who were split over whether to launch a campaign to win over the public or push for a free vote in parliament.
Rodney Croome resigned as the national director of Australian Marriage Equality at the start of this month.
He was among many campaigners who feared that a plebiscite campaign could put vulnerable members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex community at risk.
“If there is a plebiscite, and when the first gay kid dies at his own hand because of the hate and fear-mongering, I have to be able to look at myself in the mirror and know I did everything I could to stop it … everything,” said Croome. Thanks for reading.
Ukrainians saw Paul Manafort's political impact up close; and it wasn't pretty
Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s campaign chairman, has only recently become familiar to Americans. But in Ukraine, Manafort has played a decisive role in politics for nearly a decade – one that is being closely scrutinized after his name has appeared in documents that are being examined in a corruption investigation. That is why on Friday, I helped to make public more documents related to Manafort’s dealings with the Party of Regions, which he used to consult for. I remember Manafort clearly during the inauguration of Victor Yanukovych, the former president of Ukraine. On a cold February morning, men and women wearing tailcoats and evening gowns hurried towards the Lenin monument. There was a little bit of commotion at the entrance – Rinat Akhmetov, the richest Ukrainian man and the right arm of Yanukovych, was trying to make way for an inconspicuous American. It was only me and a few of my colleagues who recognized the mysterious stranger’s face: it was Paul Manafort. Manafort had served as a consultant to the Party of Regions for many years. He had just as much cause for celebration as the newly inaugurated president, since he was the mastermind behind the president’s victory. The two had worked together since 2004. After Yanukovych’s election defeat that year, Manafort was hired by him and they worked on four election campaigns (including one presidential and three parliamentary ones) together. The American consultant was recommended to Yanukovych by his business and political partner Rinat Akhmetov, who in turn was recommended by Oleg Deripaska, his Russian colleague from the circle of fellow oligarchs. That way Manafort passed from one person to another as a relay baton to later become one of the most influential players in the Ukrainian politics. The question is now if he ever abused his position. So-called “shadow accounting” documents I have seen show $400,000 in cash payments were made to him, which were intended to be spent on conducting exit polls. The documents show a further $812,000 to be paid to him for engaging international observers. And, these documents, which I reported on and which were the focus of a New York Times article this week, list a total of $12.7m of payments made to Manafort. Ukrainians are concerned about the theft of public money. We want the chain of corruption to end. That is why many are troubled that Manafort’s name has emerged in this investigation. It is not just these latest revelations that cast a shadow over Manafort’s name in Ukraine. Manafort was an advisor to President Yanukovych when he pursued a divisive electoral campaign, such as focusing on the alleged infringement of rights of the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine. This wasn’t an issue before, but after years of driving this idea into the heads of voters, the question of the Russian language has really become an important factor in Ukrainian politics. Subsequently, after the escape of Yanukovych in 2014, it was under the guise of protecting the Russian population that Putin invaded Crimea, violating the post-war balance of power in Europe. Manafort worked with Victor Yanukovych – one of the most notorious European politicians – for nearly 10 years. This is not a casual relationship between the client and the performer. Such long-term cooperation incorporates a general worldview and values. Now voters in America will have to ask themselves: are these values they want in their country?. Thanks for reading.
Paul Manafort resigns as chairman of Donald Trump campaign
Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort has resigned, in the latest convulsion to sweep a candidacy reeling from poor polling numbers and self-inflicted controversy. With voters able to cast absentee ballots in the crucial swing state of North Carolina in just three weeks and his poll numbers sliding rapidly, the Republican nominee ousted his campaign chairman on Friday, only two months after the forced departure of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Manafort’s exit followed another unconventional move by Trump, who hours earlier had admitted that he “regretted” the pain caused by some of his intemperate remarks this year. “Sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing,” he said, in tightly scripted remarks said to bear the hallmark of new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway. Though the apology at a rally in North Carolina did not specify precisely whom he was saying sorry to, it was the first acknowledgment by the candidate that his swashbuckling style was proving self-destructive. News of Manafort’s resignation also came as a surprise to some within the campaign, and followed a slew of denials that a shakeup was under way. “I would have thought we were done with revolving chairs,” one source familiar with the campaign told the Guardian after the publication of Friday’s statement. Another person familiar with the shakeup said the change underlined how Manafort had never quite been able to communicate with Trump the way Lewandowski had. His departure meant Conway would be in charge of the messaging, whereas Bannon, a former banker, was there to run the business side of the campaign. It was also pointed out that Trump had long been uncomfortable with the campaign spending heavily to buy television commercials, a step that was taken earlier this week with Trump shelling out $4m to go on the air in Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. “He thinks he is being robbed,” said the source familiar with the shakeup. “Boots on the ground are worth it” but “media buys, mail and other stuff” were looked on by Trump skeptically. In an interview with Fox News, Trump’s son Eric suggested that the controversy over Manafort’s ties to Russia and a report this week that he had potentially committed a felony by evading the reporting requirements of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) led to the top operative being pushed out. “My father just didn’t want to have the distraction looming over the campaign, and, quite frankly, looming over all the issues Hillary is facing right now,” said the younger Trump. Who supports Donald Trump? The new Republican center of gravity Read more Manafort, a veteran political strategist, has been under mounting scrutiny as more details emerged of his role in advising foreign politicians, including Ukrainian strongman Viktor Yanukovych. His close connections to Russia through Yanukovych, at a time when Trump is trying to criticise Clinton for taking money from foreign donors for her family foundation, were proving a growing problem. Manafort first joined the campaign as an unpaid adviser in March after Trump had been repeatedly outmaneuvered in the delegation selection process by rival Ted Cruz. The veteran operative, who helped Gerald Ford win the last contested convention in American history in 1976, soon used that foothold to expand his mandate. Within weeks, he had in effect replaced former campaign manager Lewandowski, who was disdained by many within the party establishment as well as the Trump family. In a statement issued on Friday, Trump suggested Manafort’s role had peaked as an adviser during the Republican national convention in Cleveland, where rival Ted Cruz had threatened to lead a revolt, but this time expressed no regret over the departure. “This morning Paul Manafort offered, and I accepted, his resignation from the campaign,” said a statement from the Trump campaign issued on Friday morning. “I am very appreciative for his great work in helping to get us where we are today, and in particular his work guiding us through the delegate and convention process. Paul is a true professional and I wish him the greatest success.” The resignation, which contradicts claims Manafort would stay on earlier in the week, is the second moment Trump has exercised his famed slogan “you’re fired” – following the ousting of Lewandowski, in June. Lewandowski is now thought likely to make a comeback within the constantly shifting Trump inner circle, as he favours the same approach of “letting Trump be Trump” as Bannon is believed to. Trump also appeared rattled by recent opinion polling which suggests he is far adrift of where he needs to be to challenge Clinton in crucial swing states. The urgent need to confront his collapse in the polls suggests expediency, rather than a personality, may have been the largest factor leading to Manafort’s departure. At a rally on Friday night in Dimondale, Michigan, he again read off a prepared speech, with no mention of polls or crowds – two of his favorite topics for months of rallies. Instead he urged African Americans to join his “change movement”, saying, “to those hurting, I say: what do you have to lose by trying something new?” Signs of the old Trump did break through his restrained performance. At one point he went off-script, riffing to the mostly white crowd, “I am nothing more than your messenger.” Amid the Trump campaign shakeup and the apologetic address on Thursday night, Democrats rejected the notion of a new-look Trump on Friday, ridiculing a new emphasis on unifying the country that emerged on the same day as a campaign ad attacking immigrants. “In case you thought for a split second Trump was genuine about feeling regret, he is back to demonizing immigrants again in his new ad today,” said Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon. Thanks for reading.
Donald Trump tries out a new campaign tactic: saying sorry
Donald Trump marked the relaunch of his struggling presidential campaign with a shock new tactic: an apology.
“Sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing,” he told a rally in North Carolina on Thursday night. “I have done that. And, believe it or not, I regret it. I do regret it. Particularly where it may have caused personal pain.”
The remarks, during Trump’s first public appearance since the appointment of a new campaign manager, are a sharp reversal of an approach that seemed to follow the adage “never retract, never explain, never apologise”.
“I like not to regret anything,” the candidate previously told radio host Don Imus in May after controversy over comments that questioned senator John McCain’s war record. “You do things and you say things. And what I said, frankly, is what I said.”
Many more such controversies have passed without regret since, but Trump’s closely watched standing in opinion polls has plummeted after he last month attacked the parents of a Muslim war hero who died serving in the US army.
On Thursday he appeared to acknowledge for the first time the damage such incidents were doing to his election standing, though did not specify which precise “personal pain” he was responding to.
“Too much is at stake for us to be consumed by these issues,” he told the unusually subdued crowd at the Charlotte convention center.
“As you know I am not a politician,” he added, to initial cheers. “I have never wanted to learn the language of the insiders, and I’ve never been politically correct – it takes far too much time, and can often make it more difficult to achieve total victory.”
The rally, which began with a long tribute to victims of flooding in Louisiana, was also unusual for relying entirely on a teleprompter. Previously the campaign’s use of prepared remarks has mostly tended to be reserved for formal policy addresses, rather than standard stump speeches at rallies.
Often stiff, the sight of Trump reading out lines rather than ad-libbing seemed to perplex a crowd not used to hearing him saying phrases such as: “I’ve travelled all across this country laying out my bold and modern agenda for change.”
The campaign for his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, dismissed Trump’s professed change of heart. “Donald Trump literally started his campaign by insulting people,” her campaign said. “We learned tonight that his speechwriter and teleprompter knows he has much for which he should apologize.”
“But that apology tonight is simply a well-written phrase until he tells us which of his many offensive, bullying and divisive comments he regrets – and changes his tune altogether.”
The use of a teleprompter was also out of keeping with expectations that this week’s appointment of outspoken Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon to take overall charge of the campaign would immediately mark a more “gloves-off” approach.
Instead, it appears part of the team’s new strategy is to attempt to draw a line under past controversies before trying to shift attention onto Clinton campaign weaknesses instead.
Aides watching the speech were pleased with its disciplined timing and suggested the influence of veteran pollster Kellyanne Conway, who was promoted to become campaign manager on Wednesday, would begin to make a difference to the tone. She is thought to be the most senior official now traveling regularly with Trump.
Yet Kirk Bell, communications director for North Carolina, denied he was disappointed with the turnout in Charlotte, which filled less than half of a venue the size of which was often packed before July’s national convention. “We got over 5,500. We feel pretty good about that,” he told the Guardian.
The newly contrite Trump did not seem to affect the behaviour of some of those supporters who did attend.
One man sparked complaints from several reporters after he individually photographed many of those sitting inside a penned-off media area at close range. Trump has been particular critical of the media’s coverage of his campaign and often appears to incite supporters to criticise alleged bias against him.
Other supporters continued to direct fierce anger toward Clinton. “She’s the anti-Christ,” one woman remonstrated with the media pen. “Chelsea isn’t Bill’s daughter,” insisted another. “He had mumps, he’s sterile.”
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Random quotes of “lock her up!” punctuated the night much as they did during the Republican convention.
But many supporters seemed to welcome the change of tack from Trump.
“I would like him to say ‘yes, I’m a smart ass’ and ‘yes, I say what’s on my mind but I hope what comes out of my mouth doesn’t take away what I’m really fighting for’,” said Christy Cranston of Charlotte. “I have never heard him say anything that was directly racist or against women. They were like comebacks for someone attacking him first.”
“He’s got to stop that,” added her husband, Chris, a self-employed flooring contractor. “The schoolyard semantics has got to end. He won’t lose my vote, but he’s gonna lose the fringe voter.”
Don Mcsheehan, a home remodeling contractor from Midland, North Carolina, agreed, but favoured only superficial restraint. “Him being himself is fine. Especially with me. What Trump has to sell is genuineness and if he becomes politically correct and canned and not off-the-cuff, he will lose touch with his base,” said the 49-year-old.
“I think he’s doing well considering he has got the whole US media against him. He’s at a 99% disadvantage. It’s good that he’s constantly in the news, but they are constantly berating him,” he concluded. “If he would learn to temper what he says just by 5% and let what is happening to Hillary get out there, he’ll be fine.”Thanks for reading.
Paul Manafort resigns as chairman of Donald Trump campaign
Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort has resigned, in the latest convulsion to sweep a candidacy reeling from poor poll numbers and self-inflicted controversy.
Within hours of Trump apologising for “pain” he had caused with outspoken remarks on the trail and a reshuffle that brought in a new team above him in New York, the veteran political strategist announced he would be leaving the campaign entirely.
Manafort however was also under mounting scrutiny of his own as more details emerged of his role in advising foreign politicians, including Ukrainian strongman Viktor Yanukovych.
His departure clears the way for Breitbart News executive Steve Dannon to assume full control of day-to-day operations, after he was appointed chief executive alongside new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway on Wednesday.
The resignation, which contradicts claims he would stay on earlier in the week, is the second moment Trump has exercised is famed slogan “your fired” – following the ousting of his original campaign manager Corey Lewanadowski in
Lewandowski is now thought to likely to make a comeback within the constantly shifting Trump inner circle as he shares much of the same approach to “letting Trump be Trump” as Dannon is believed to favour.
At the first public event since the reshuffle in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday, a personal wifi hotspot belonging to “Corey” could be seen among the small list of online identities present.
The rally was dominated however by a surprise change of tack for Trump, who said for the first time that he “regretted” misspeaking in the past and acknowledged his behaviour may be eclipsing the campaign’s core message.
It suggests Conway and Dannon may be attempting to use the reshuffle to draw a line under a summer of controversy and relaunch the campaign with a focus more squarely on attacking Hillary Clinton rather than defending its past behaviour.
Manafort had been brought in to replace Lewandowski with the blessing of senior figures within the Republican establishment who regarded him as a safe pair of hands who could help professionalise the campaign.
However, his close connections to Russia, at a time when Trump is trying to criticise Clinton for taking money from foreign donors for the family foundation, were proving a growing problem.
Trump is also felt to have felt increasingly surrounded by party operatives who do did not share his anti-establishment brand of politics and, as polls plunged, the 67-year-old Washington consultant proved yet another lightning rod for a tempestuous campaign.
In a statement Trump suggested he role had peaked as an adviser during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, where rival Ted Cruz had threatened to lead a revolt, but this time, offered no regret for the departure.
“This morning Paul Manafort offered, and I accepted, his resignation from the campaign,” said a statement from the Trump campaign issued on Friday morning. “I am very appreciative for his great work in helping to get us where we are today, and in particular his work guiding us through the delegate and convention process. Paul is a true professional and I wish him the greatest success.”
The Trump camp insisted that the hiring/promotion was neither the “shakeup” everyone said it was, nor a demotion for Manafort.
Manafort has been the subject in the last two weeks of multiple reports exploring his work as a lobbyist for a pro-Kremlin political party in Ukraine, work that the Associated Press reported extended to stealth donations to US lobbying firms – illegal under federal law.
