Senator Sasse slammed Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, calling him a 'bad dude' and a 'bottom-feeding scum sucker.'
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska grilled Attorney General William Barr on whether it was legal or illegal for Paul Manafort to volunteer as the Trump campaign’s chairman at the same time he was working with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“So I think we can in an open setting at least agree that he’s a bad dude,” Sasse said to Barr. “This is a bottom-feeding scum sucker, and he has absolutely no alignment with the interest of the U.S. people and our public.” The special counsel’s team could not determine what was done with the polling data. Manafort, however, had allegedly offered to provide Deripaska with briefings about the Trump campaign in order to repay some of the millions of dollars in debt he owed Deripaska from past business ventures.
It is unclear whether Manafort was, as Sasse said, on Deripaska’s payroll. But Manafort did work with Deripaska before joining the Trump campaign and was in debt to him. The Mueller report notes that Manafort may have been using Kilimnik to communicate with Deripaska and share information with him while he worked for the Trump campaign.
“Given how sleazy so much of this city is and a whole bunch of people live on retainers of [$15,000] and [$20,000] and $30,000 a month, is it always obvious what you’re paid for versus what you do?” Sasse asked. “So some Russian oligarch just decides to start putting American campaign personnel on retainer payments and say ‘we may need you to lobby for something somewhere in the future.’”
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