Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort is back in the fold and involved with the President-elect’s transition effort, according to multiple reports.
A source close to Manafort told Bloomberg in a report published Monday that the former campaign chair is in regular contact with Vice President-elect Mike Pence, as well as with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who Trump nominated to serve as his attorney general.
According to a report published Thursday by the Daily Beast, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the transition, Manafort is “weighing in on everything” as Trump staffs his incoming administration and picks cabinet members.
“I think he still talks to Trump every day. I mean, Pence? That was all Manafort. Pence is on the phone with Manafort regularly,” one former campaign official said, as quoted by the Daily Beast.
The official said that Manafort was specifically concerned about staffing decisions that might affect the lobbying industry. “He wants names he knows on every door,” the official told the publication.
Another unnamed Trump campaign source told the Daily Beast that Manafort is heavily involved with selecting “personnel picks” for the President-elect’s incoming administration.
Manafort — along with Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager and Manafort’s predecessor as one of the then-candidate’s top aides — visited Trump Tower before Thanksgiving, according to a transition pool report. He ignored questions from reporters.
A Trump transition spokesman did not respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment, and Manafort refused to confirm or deny his involvement in Trump’s transition.
“I don’t want to get into that,” he told the Daily Beast. “No comment.”
