Well, that's really generous of you to give that to me. Wow. A gifter. Who knew. Manafort was just Ukraine and not anything to do with Russia. Right. Do you know much about the Orange Revolution? That was all about trying to take over Ukraine politically and Manafort was in the middle of it. It took a bit but he hung in there. Russia wanted access to Crimea and oil pipelines. They have it now. Manafort's involvement is clear. He is the prodigy of Oleg Deripaska. So there's that. 
Manafort didn't just stick with the old Soviet block area. His firm represented Jonas Savimbi. He's a savory character if you're into Angolan guerilla armies. NOt really my style.
For you to say I don't do my homework or just am sloppy about what I write isn't true. My editors make me back up my opnion column every week and I wouldn't want it any other way.