Manafort in Talks to Return for the Republican National Convention

Paul Manafort, a top adviser to Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign who was pardoned by the former president at the end of his White House term, is in discussions to return to help with the Republican National Convention, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Mr. Manafort’s potential role at the party’s convention in Milwaukee has not been decided, and the discussions have gone on for several months.

Mr. Manafort’s possible involvement was first reported by The Washington Post.

A Trump campaign spokesman and Mr. Manafort did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Manafort, 74, was closely involved in the 1996 Republican Party convention when Bob Dole was the nominee, and he also worked on the convention in support of Ronald Reagan. Mr. Trump brought him in to help with delegates during his 2016 bid, but Mr. Manafort soon took over running the campaign after Mr. Trump’s initial campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was ousted.

Mr. Manafort was dismissed by Mr. Trump later that summer. He became enmeshed in the federal investigation into whether Mr. Trump’s campaign had ties to Russian officials; among other findings, investigators said he shared campaign polling data with a Russian connected to intelligence services there.

Mr. Manafort for many months tried to fend off the charges filed against him by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. Mr. Trump praised him publicly for initially refusing to cooperate with investigators and compared him favorably to Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen.

“Unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to ‘break’ — make up stories in order to get a ‘deal,’” Mr. Trump posted about Mr. Manafort on Twitter in August 2018. “Such respect for a brave man!”

Mr.