Manafort's Full Statement on New York Real Estate Deals

Manafort's spokesman issued this statement from Paul J. Manafort after WNYC's story on his New York real estate deals was first published.

"I am sorry to disappoint the conspiracy theorists and anonymous 'experts' out there but my personal investments in real estate are all ordinary business transactions. It is common practice in New York City and elsewhere to use an LLC to purchase real estate. These transactions were executed in a transparent fashion and my identity was disclosed - in fact my name is right there on the documents in one of today's news reports. 

"Borrowing against the value of a property is also common when the properties increase in value. My loans are all arm's length transactions at or above market rates.

"The financing I put in place recently on a Brooklyn property is a straight-forward one-year construction loan secured by collateral.  As is standard, the loan amount is based on the appraised value of the property after renovation, not the value of the property as-is. I have also engaged an architect and contractor to complete the construction within the next year.

"There is nothing out of the ordinary about them and I am confident anyone who isn't afflicted with scandal-fever will come to the same conclusion."