You'd have to read the story behind the second link to understand why, but to begin with recall that Manafort was the campaign chair for Trump and he did something very unusual for Trump her hired a polling guy and then gave polling data to the Russians
The polling guy was a long time Manafor associate known as Fabrizio. He's the focus of the second article (below). Here's the xcerpt:
"On March 4, Fabrizio was one of more than 80 members of Trump's extended political and professional orbits to receive a formal letter from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. In it, Nadler wrote that the committee is investigating "allegations of obstruction of justice, public corruption, and abuses of power" by Trump and those around him."
Not that Mueller's mandate is limited, by Congress still opened up an inquiry. The story below is about a $125,000 payment made to Manafort's legal defense . . by companies associated with Fabrizio, who notably also assisted Manafort for years with his Ukraine lobbying.
This last part (in bold) is notable because it brings us full circle back to the Ukraine and this was the Mueller's Special Counsel discussing the Manafort/Ukraine connection with the judge who will sentence Manafort tomorrow:
A court transcript unsealed on February 7 in Paul Manafort's criminal case says an August 2016 meeting between Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik goes to the "larger view of what we think is going on" and what "we think the motive here is."
"This goes, I think, very much to the heart of what Special Counsel [Robert Mueller's] office is investigating," Andrew Weissmann, one of the prosecutors on Mueller's team, told the judge, according to a transcript of the hearing.
Much of the transcript was redacted, including portions relating to Kilimnik.
In previous court documents, it was revealed that one of the topics discussed by Manafort and Kilimnik was a possible "Ukrainian peace plan."
The peace plan refers to the conflict that erupted in Ukraine in 2014, after President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country amid mass protests. The United States and Western allies hit Russia with sanctions after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula, and Moscow had sought to ease the punitive measures.
According to court filings, the "peace plan" was reportedly aimed at lifting the U.S. sanctions on Russia.
As you may recall, Trump and the GOP lifted sanction. That is the Quid Pro Quo.
This stuff is far too complex and dense for politics, but I would predict that long after Trump is gone from office, SDNY will indict many of these people in and around the GOP for using foreign funds in an election.
Here's the story:
