Paul Manafort Has A Side Hustle Developing Secure, ‘Virtually Indestructible’ Cell Phones

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/paul-manafort-cell-phone-company_us_5a00bdcae4b0baea2634097e

 

The former Trump campaign manager is involved in a mysterious telecommunications company out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

By Ryan J. Reilly

WIN MCNAMEE VIA GETTY IMAGES

 

 

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WASHINGTON ― A former Donald Trump campaign manager facing a plethora of federal charges for allegedly laundering millions of dollars from overseas has a mysterious side hustle: He’s involved with a telecommunications company developing secure, “virtually indestructible” cell phones.

The news about Paul Manafort’s affiliation with an unnamed telecommunications company briefly came up in a court hearing on Monday. Manafort was arrested last week after a grand jury run by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, indicted Manafort and former business associate Rick Gates on 12 federal charges. Both men currently remain on house arrest with GPS monitors on their ankles as they try to reach a deal with the government that could relax some of the conditions of their pretrial release.

Manafort’s work as a lobbyist for foreign governments was well known, and Manafort attorney Kevin Downing described him at the Monday hearing as an “international consultant” who worked on campaigns and overseas investing and had a lot of clients in New York City. The news that he also does some work in tech came up after Downing mentioned that Manafort did a “bit of work down in Florida” and that he’s “got a business down in Fort Lauderdale.” That piqued U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s curiosity. “What’s the business?” she asked.

“It’s a telecommunications business,” Downing replied. “It’s developing secure cell phones, and it also does make them relatively or virtually indestructible.”

Downing did not respond to HuffPost’s questions about the telecommunications business on Monday or Tuesday, and Judge Jackson issued a gag order on Wednesday that restricts attorneys’ comments to the media. (Jackson had admonished Downing after he spoke to cameras outside the courthouse after Manfort’s first court appearance.)

HuffPost has tried to find out more about the business. We’ve searched Florida business records, Fort Lauderdale tax records, poked around job boards and checked the transcript of Manafort’s hearing to make sure we didn’t miss any clues. But so far, we’ve come up short. 

Beyond the name of the company, the extent of Manafort’s role is unclear. Getting involved with a tech company seems like an odd career move for the 68-year-old lobbyist. But a look at his recent history sheds some light on why he might be intrigued by a business opportunity in secure tech.