Oleg Deripaska, a Russian aluminum magnate who has drawn scrutiny from Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, told a CNN reporter that his network was "fake news" in response to questions about his ties to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
CNN's Matthew Chance on Friday spotted Deripaska and immediately started following him around to hound him about his relationship with Manafort.
After trying to ignore Chance's questions at first, Deripaska eventually responded by calling CNN "fake news" and "news for idiots."
Chance kept pursuing Deripaska, however, and pressed him on the massive debts that Manafort owed him.
"Get lost, please," Deripaska said. "Thank you."
Manafort's lobbying firm in 2006 signed a $10 million annual contract with Deripaska, who at a later date accused Manafort and his business partner, Rick Gates, of misappropriating funds. Manafort's deal, as originally reported by the Associated Press, was for him to help Russia expand its influence in the United States, and thus "greatly benefit the Putin government."
Deripaska is also the same man whom Manafort agreed to give personal briefings about the state of Trump’s presidential campaign to in 2016, and there has been speculation that Manafort made this offer as a way to pay off his debts to the Russian oligarch.
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