Low-orbit flyby over Planet Trump: So much happens with the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on a weekly and even daily basis that it could fill a book.

It’s been a rough week for Paul Manafort, formerly Trump’s senior campaign advisor and currently the “national chairman” of the campaign following the appointment of two new, even more controversial henchmen — sorry, advisors. Manafort, previously campaign advisor to Kremlin-linked former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, and whose firm lobbied on behalf of dictators Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and Mobutu Sese Seko of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has for weeks been at the center of controversy surrounding the Trump campaign with regard to questionable positions on Ukraine and Russia.

On Sunday, the New York Times broke the story that Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating USD 12.7 mn in previously undisclosed payments found in a handwritten ledger, known in Ukraine as “the black ledger,” earmarked for Manafort made by Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party. The report notes that “though they [Ukrainian prosecutors] have yet to determine if he [Manafort] actually received the cash,” that “he must have realized the implications of his financial dealings.” Says a former senior official in the Ukrainian general prosecutor’s office: “He understood what was happening in Ukraine… It would have to be clear to any reasonable person that the Yanukovych clan, when it came to power, was engaged in corruption.”

On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that unnamed sources said Manafort’s firm “helped a pro-Russian governing party in Ukraine secretly route at least USD 2.2 mn in payments to two prominent Washington lobbying firms in 2012, and did so in a way that effectively obscured the foreign political party’s efforts to influence US policy.” Manafort’s lack of disclosure on the revelation could potentially be viewed as a violation of US federal law, which carries a potential five year prison sentence and a fine of up to USD 250k. Just hours ago, the AP backed up its claims, saying it had obtained emails demonstrating that Manafort “directly orchestrated a covert Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine’s ruling political party, attempting to sway American public opinion in favor of the country’s pro-Russian government.”

Adding further fuel to the Manafort dumpster fire, “a memo leaked to the Times of London on Wednesday suggests Ukrainian prosecutors believe Manafort actively helped to foment unrest in the incident [an anti-US protest targeting US Marines in Ukraine in 2006], one of a long line of provocations they say may have contributed to Eastern Ukraine’s secession from the country and Russia’s interference in the region.”

MOVES– Whether or not the scandal-ridden Manafort’s questionable Ukrainian links were any reason for him being unceremoniously pushed aside and kicked upstairs as the Trump campaign’s “national chairman” on Wednesday, one would be tempted to assume that it is probably not the best thing in the world for the Trump campaign to be overshadowed by a campaign manager more controversial than Trump himself. And one would be wrong. On Wednesday, the Trump campaign announced that chairman of far-right wing news outlet Breitbart News, Stephen Bannon, was the campaign’s new CEO.

Adding to the lineup of Trump’s Suicide Squad is Kellyanne Conway, his new campaign manager, replacing Manafort. Rounding out the team is Roger Ailes, the recently ousted Fox News chairman, former Nixon advisor, and serial harasser of women, who is now officially serving as an advisor to the campaign after having secretly been an advisor for some time. No news yet if Harley Quinn will be joining up with the Trump campaign.