Five days before Paul Manafort's conviction on eight counts of fraud, the former Trump campaign manager's hometown decided to "tweak" the name of the street that bears the name of his namesake-father.
"Paul Manafort Drive" in New Britain, Connecticut, became "Paul Manafort, Sr. Drive" — making it clear the street is not named for the embattled Trump operative but for his father, who served as mayor of New Britain from 1965-71.
"The buzz around the city was we needed to clarify who 'Paul Manafort Drive' is named after," New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart told Newsmax on Tuesday, shortly before the younger Manafort's conviction was announced.
"Here in New Britain, we all know who it's named for and why," said Stewart, who was the driving force behind the "tweaking" of the street's name. "He was a decorated veteran of World War II and did a lot for the city as mayor. And Mayor Manafort helped the expansion of Central Connecticut State University. In fact, Paul Manafort, Sr. Drive borders CCSU."
But Stewart did point out, as the trial of the younger Manafort increasingly became national news, some residents of the city began discussing renaming the street that honors Manafort, Sr. (who died in 2013). Recently, some irate citizens began collecting signatures on a petition calling for the renaming of Paul Manafort Drive to George Springer Drive after the hometown baseball hero and Houston Astros outfielder.
"But we didn't need to entirely rename 'Paul Manafort Drive,'" the mayor told us. "To make the distinction between father and son, a little clarification was in order."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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