At last, though, Zieger is stepping forward: He says he’s the mystery man behind a $1 million loan provided to the family of Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman who’s now sitting in federal prison. One seven-digit loan might seem to be a footnote in the long, troubled story of Manafort
-- Arjan “Ari” Zieger tried to keep it a secret. He worried what his investors and liberal friends might think.
The veil is coming off now thanks to a series of “very unintended and unforeseen situations,” as Zieger’s attorney describes them, including a botched redaction in a court filing and an ill-advised guest appearance by a crew member from “The Nutty Professor.”Last month, as those clues led reporters to several of Zieger’s associates, he agreed to go public as the source of the Manafort loan.
Adler recounted how, two years earlier and before Manafort’s legal troubles were widely known, he had hosted Manafort in the same room for an “incredible” two-hour discussion. “It was wonderful to talk to the guy. He seemed so assured of himself,” Adler said. “You got the sense he was the most honest man in the world.”
Manafort’s political consulting business was ailing, and his legal costs looked sure to rise. He requested a loan. Berglund said he chose Rappa, who has worked previously as a crew member for “The Nutty Professor” and was once an assistant to Keanu Reeves, because of the “potential for public embarrassment” for the anonymous source of the loan, Berglund said. As far as he knew, Berglund said, Rappa had no ties to anyone of interest in the Mueller probe.
Another Woodlawn attorney, David Smith, dismissed the government’s claims as “paranoid nonsense” and has continued to fight efforts to publicly identify the source of the loan, arguing in court filings that the lender’s ties to Manafort could hurt his business and friendships in left-leaning Los Angeles.A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Columbia, which is now handling the matter, declined to comment.
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