Paul Manafort Dodges Question On Trump’s Iran Video About-Face

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Top campaign aide Paul Manafort skillfully dodged questions on Friday about Donald Trump repeatedly claiming he had seen “secret” video of U.S. planes unloading cash in Iran, even after Trump appeared to back off one false claim.

Manafort was asked in an interview on Fox News whether there was “confusion” about the video, given that Trump seemed to own up in a tweet to the fact that the footage he’d claimed showed a “secret” cash hand-off in Iran actually showed a plane carrying the American hostages to Geneva. Manafort replied “I’m not sure if there was confusion” before immediately pivoting to get back on script.

“The point that [Trump] was making is the cash transfer took place and it was taking place consistent with the transfer of hostages,” he said. “Again, what the Obama administration wants to do is get off of the point.”

“The point is that $400 million in cash that most likely ended up in terrorist camps used against the West was given in exchange for hostages and the President of the United States lied to the American people,” Manafort continued.

On the campaign trail this week, Trump spun tales of high-quality, “top secret” footage provided by Iran showing what he claimed was the “ransom” payment being unloaded from planes in exchange for the hostages. President Barack Obama has strenuously denied the $400 million amounted to a quid pro quo payment for the hostages, saying the sum was a repayment for a decades-old failed arms deal and had been publicly announced in January.

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