GROUNDED: Paul Manafort’s passport revoked, he’s kicked off Miami flight to UAE

GROUNDED: Paul Manafort's passport revoked, kicked off Miami flight to UAE

Convicted and pardoned former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort just got kicked off a flight and a new report says it’s because the State Department has revoked his passport.

Manafort is best remembered as Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign advisor because he became a key focus of the subsequent probe into his ties to Russia, ultimately pleading guilty to a cornucopia of criminal charges for secretly lobbying for foreign governments after being convicted by a jury of mortgage and tax fraud. Infamously, he sold $70 million in political consulting services to Ukraine’s pro-Russia politicians and got a kleptomaniac elected to its presidency before he was ejected by the people.

Roger Stone’s former partner Manafort was the person who directly linked Trump’s campaign information to sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Only 18 months ago, a Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee report concluded Paul Manafort is a “grave counterintelligence threat.” (Complete report here)

Now, a website created by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. reports that the co-founder of the “Torturer’s Lobby” who smuggled Trump’s 2016 campaign data to his Russian intelligence handler is claiming that Manafort tried to fly through Miami to Dubai this week when he was removed from the gate. The Associated Press has confirmed the news. Knews reported:

Officials with Miami-Dade police confirmed to Knewz.com that Manafort was denied travel by the Customs and Bureau Protection at Miami International Airport. Police said he could not take the flight and his U.S. Passport was revoked.

Miami-Dade police stressed they were not involved in the situation and there was no further incident from his removal.

Paul Manafort’s removal from the flight caused a 35-minute delay in departure but flight records show the airplane eventually reached its destination in the United Arab Emirates.

While it’s unknown if the UAE was the pardoned former Trump campaign manager’s final destination, the wealthy Gulf Arab state is embroiled in another criminal trial of Tom Barrack, another one of the disgraced ex-President’s top advisors from the 2016 campaign who described the foreign nation as the “home team.”

It should come as no surprise that Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort is facing a significant level of federal government scrutiny because of his long history of working against American interests while Russia wages war in Ukraine.

BREAKING: Associated Press now reporting Manafort removed from a plane headed for Dubai because of revoked passport. https://t.co/gMAcOFUqp8
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) March 23, 2022

Grant Stern

is the Executive Editor of Occupy Democrats and published author. His new Meet the Candidates 2020 book series is distributed by Simon and Schuster. He's also mortgage broker, community activist and radio personality in Miami, Florida., as well as the producer of the Dworkin Report podcast. Grant is also an occasional contributor to Raw Story, Alternet, and the DC Report, and an unpaid senior advisor to the Democratic Coalition and a Director of Sunshine Agenda Inc. a government transparency nonprofit organization. Get all of his stories sent directly to your inbox here: