Why did Manafort join the Trump Campaign for free? We might finally have a lucid answer: to show prospective clients in Ukraine he was back in action and could help them regain power in Kyiv (and make money again) https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/report_volume5.pdf

It's also a sort of a bank shot to "get whole" with Deripaska, the other patron of the former Yankovich party. That cryptic message to Kilimnik never really made sense until now with the larger context.

The sinister interpretation of Manafort's behavior with regards to Kilimnik and Deripaska was that he was sending intelligence on Trump Campaign like a spy. Instead, he was trying to look relevant again and parlay that into new biz among power players in Ukraine. His life story.

Manafort laundered $18 million out of Ukraine, a sum he could not possibly make (tax-free) in the U.S. He wanted to ride Trump back to the trough.

To be sure, Manafort was a "grave counterintelligence threat" because of how fast he was willing to sell Trump (and America) out to Ukraine's pro-Russia oligarchs

I should stop, I have to go back for one more score just like Manafort or DeNiro in Heat

In 2018, he was still trying to work with Kilimnik in Ukraine after he was FREAKING CHARGED