Paul Manafort, the veteran Republican operative tapped to head up Donald Trump's presidential campaign last month, may be looking for ammo to further remove campaign manager Corey Lewandowski from his position, Gabriel Sherman writes in
New York magazine.
The move began in a Saturday meeting of top Trump campaign staff called by Manafort in Trump Tower that was
first reported by Politico. Sherman said he talked to five sources who described how that meeting went down.
It was called and chaired by Manafort, who answers directly to Trump and refers to him as "Donald," as opposed to "Mr. Trump" as Lewandowski and others staffers do. Trump made a brief appearance at the meeting, which as interpreted by those present as him giving his blessing to Manafort.
Trump then left the meeting to campaign, taking Lewandowski with him, as Manafort continued the meeting. Lewandowski will continue traveling with Trump, Sherman writes, while Manafort heads up operations.
Manafort and his longtime deputy Rick Gates, meanwhile, are said to be scouring Lewandowski's spending records, possibly looking for evidence he wasted money — a big no-no with Trump.
"Every expenditure that Corey approved is being reviewed," Sherman quoted one source.