“We do know there was a push for some reason at the RNC to take offensive weapons out of our platform,” Adam Kinzinger said. | Getty Rep. Kinzinger calls for investigation into Manafort-Russian ties

Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger on Tuesday called for Donald Trump to investigate his campaign manager after The New York Times reported that Paul Manafort was linked to millions in secret payments from a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party.

“I think Donald Trump ought to really investigate this and where his chief adviser, what his association with the Russians are,” the Illinois Republican said to CNN’s Jake Tapper.


Manafort blasted the Times after the report, denying he accepted any cash payments. The Trump campaign also publicly defended Manafort following the report.

Kinzinger tied the Manafort allegations to a larger trend within the Trump campaign he equated to an "affection" for the Russian government.

“We do know there was a push for some reason at the RNC to take offensive weapons out of our platform,” Kinzinger said. “That wasn't anything anybody was talking about, it just happened. There’s been this affection in the campaign for Russia and Vladimir Putin.”

Kinzinger said the campaign’s stance on Russia “violates” what he believes in as a Republican and also echoed past statements that he doesn’t see how he will get himself to vote for Trump, without ruling out the possibility definitively.