EXCLUSIVE: Paul Manafort has been back channeling campaign tips through top Trump aides since last year, Republicans tell 24sight News

Sources say Manafort worked through senior campaign advisor Chris LaCivita and veteran pollster Tony Fabrizio behind the scenes, but Trump camp denies direct involvement

Then-Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort speaks to reporters covering the 2016 Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 17, 2016. Photo credit: Voice of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Paul Manafort, the former campaign manager for Donald Trump, has been secretly advising the 2024 re-election effort through his top campaign aides since last summer, according to the more than half-dozen Republicans who told 24sight News about the arrangement. 

Manafort has quietly been passing strategic advice back to Trump through co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita and longtime Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio, the Republican sources said. Manafort has been analyzing polling results and advised on the organization of state Republican parties and selecting delegates to the Republican nominating convention — one of his specialties — according to two Republicans familiar with the dealings. 

Trump makes RNC establishment great again with an eye on making money and winning

But LaCivita and other Trump campaign officials vehemently denied Manafort’s involvement. 

LaCivita called questions about huddling with Manafort for Trump’s benefit “manufactured horseshit,” in a text message to 24sight News. Trump campaign spokesman Brian Hughes endorsed LaCivita’s reply, adding some context to the pushback. 

“There was clearly a moment of consideration about using Manafort specifically for the convention,” Hughes said Wednesday. “But Manafort very publicly withdrew himself.” 

Asked if Manafort had discussions with Fabrizio about helping steer the campaign, Hughes said he was unaware of everything that people talk about outside the campaign. 

Three Republicans familiar with the dealings said that LaCivita met with Manafort in suburban Washington last fall. LaCivita denied details of the meeting to 24sight News, but declined to answer additional questions.

“LaCivita made a huge mistake with Manafort. Why do a public restaurant?” one Republican aware of their encounter last fall told 24sight News. 

Republicans familiar with Manafort’s dealings said he has played an instrumental role behind the scenes, in one clear instance helping craft the Trump campaign’s messaging —  which has been markedly sharper this time than it was eight years ago when the political neophyte first ran for office.

Manafort, who has had a longstanding relationship with Fabrizio, would analyze Fabrizio’s polls and then send a message back through Fabrizio on what Trump should tell supporters. Manafort “looks at polling every other day, and says ‘It’s the interest rate on home loans,’” one Republican familiar with their arrangement told 24sight News, citing a specific example from the campaign trail.