Trump campaign chairman paid $12.7m by Ukraine government in secret ledger

Paul Manafort, the campaign chairman of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, received $12.7m in secret cash payments as a consultant for Ukraine's ruling political party, according to a ledger seen by the New York Times.

And Mr. Manafort's presence remains elsewhere here in the capital, where government investigators examining secret records have found his name, as well as companies he sought business with, as they try to untangle a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort's main client, former President Viktor F. Yanukovych.

Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych's pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine's newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.

Trump, himself a millionaire, has been vocally and some say oddly solicitous toward Russia and its strongman leader, Vladimir Putin. Manafort is plainly denying the NYT's report, or at least the part of it where he pockets $12.7m. With his ties to one of Putin's stickier tentacles exposed, though, rival candidate Hillary Clinton is becoming more forceful about demanding answers.

Donald Trump's campaign team must disclose all pro-Russia links, Hillary Clinton's manager has said, following new allegations in the New York Times. ... It said Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau had discovered the listed payments in the ledgers of Mr Yanukovych's then governing Party of the Regions - allegedly part of "an illegal off-the-books system". The bureau is also investigating business deals worth millions of dollars put together with the help of Mr Manafort's business.