Paul Manafort, Trump campaign chief, denies getting ‘off-the-books’ payment from pro-Russia party

Donald Trump’s campaign chairman is denying he ever received an “off-the-books” cash payment from a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine, in the wake of a New York Times report that said a handwritten list had designated $12.7 million for him from the party between 2007 and 2012.

“I have never received a single ’off-the-books cash payment’ as falsely ’reported’ by The New York Times, nor have I ever done work for the governments of Ukraine and Russia,” Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort said in a statement Monday.

He said political payments directed to him were for his entire political team.

“The suggestion that I accepted cash payments is unfounded, silly and nonsensical,” he said.

Mr. Manafort said he’s a campaign professional and it’s “well known” that he does work in the United States “and have done work on overseas campaigns as well.”

He says his work in Ukraine ended after the country’s parliamentary elections in October 2014. Mr. Manafort had worked for former President Viktor F. Yanukovych, who was elected in 2010.

The New York Times story said the $12.7 million earmarked for Mr. Manafort on a handwritten ledger came about during an anti-corruption probe investigating an attempt to influence elections during the administration of Mr. Yanukovych.

In the story, Mr. Manafort’s lawyer said he did not receive any such cash payments described by anti-corruption officials.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau also said in a statement that the presence of Mr. Manafort’s name on the list does not mean he got the money from the Party of Regions.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign tried to seize on the news, saying there are “more troubling connections” between Mr. Trump’s team and “pro-Kremlin elements in Ukraine.”

Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said Mr. Trump has a responsibility to disclose Mr. Manafort’s ties or other campaign ties to “Russian or pro-Kremlin entities.”